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7 - CARROLL AND HARRISON COUNTIES History of Carroll County CHAPTER I GEOLOGY AND NATURAL FEATURES GENERAL GEOLOGY OF CARROLL COUNTY-SURFACE FEATURES-AREAL GEOLOGY-GEOLOGY OF VARIOUS TOWNSHIPS-USEFUL. CLAYS OF CARROLL COUNTY-COAL MINING OF TILE COUNTY. SURFACE FEATURES Within Carroll County lies the divide which separates the waters of the Tuscarawas River system from eastward flowing tributaries of Yellow Creek and Beaver River. It is a high ridge ranging from 1,200 to over 1,350 feet above sea-level. Crossing from Harrison County it trends northwestward across Loudon Township passing through the village of Kilgore at an altitude of 1,300 feet, thence northward across the western third of Lee Township and through the corner of Center Township three miles east of Carrollton, the county seat. Bending around to the east here the water shed passes through the lower edge of Washington Township and into Fox, just west of the village of Scroggsfield. From Mechanicstown the direction is nearly north along the margin of East Township to where it finally passes into Columbiana County near Kensington. Branching off from the main water shed are numerous subsidiary divides which in turn have been dissected by stream erosion into numerous finger-like ridges ; the streams cutting their channels for the most part in sandy shales and easily eroded sandstone, have developed rather gently sloping valley walls that lead upward in grassy rounded slopes to the summits of the hills. Glaciation did not extend into Carroll County and the processes of erosion, uninterrupted for ages, have been so effective that there are few remnants of the plateau that was formerly continuous over the entire region. There are in various parts of the county strong suggestions of a peneplain at an altitude of about 1,240 feet above sea- level. Places where this is well known are Augusta, Augusta Township; Baxter Ridge, Harrison Township ; and, less conspicuously at Carrollton. A few points rise above this altitude in the western and northern part of the county, and such as do may be regarded as remnants of a former higher land, most of which was worn away during the reduction of this region by erosion to the 1,240 level. The highest point in the county, lying near the north edge of East Township having an altitude of 1,37.5 feet, is one of these remnants. A modern illustration of the formation of a peneplain may be seen close at hand. The tendency of the streams of western Carroll County 8 - CARROLL AND HARRISON COUNTIES is to reduce that region to the level of Tuscarawas River. Already Big Sandy Creek has cut a deep valley a mile wide in places, having an elevation of about a thouSand feet above sea-level. The flood plain of the valley may be regarded as the beginning of a peneplain, and should the level of Tuscarawas River remain constant indefinitely, the entire country-side in time migbt be worn down to about the level of this valley floor. When the ancient plain, having now an elevation of 1,240 feet, was formed in Carroll County, the general altitude was probably only a little above Sea-level. Subsequent elevation of the continent haS brought the lands up where streams can again do their work, and another cycle of erosion is now well under way. GENERAL GEOLOGY The recent State geological reports give the following: Nearly all the rocks at the surface in Carroll County belong to the Conemaugh formation of the Carboniferous system, but there are, along the valleys in the western and northern part of the county, strata of the Allegheny which underlie the Conemaugh and at the southeastern margin of the county are a few hill-top outcrops of the Pittsburgh coal, which is the upper limit of the Conemaugh. There is a gentle dip to the southeastward. and since the drainage is mostly westward, as one travels in that direction lower and lower strata are found at the surface. The Upper Freeport all in No. 7 coal, marking the lower limit of the Conemaugh formation, is mined at numerous localities, among which are Carrollton, Del Roy, Sherrodsville and Petersburg. The thickness of the entire Conemaugh in Carroll County is about 435 feet. The Ames limestone, one of the most constant and easily recognized strata in the formation, lies about 180 feet below the PittSburgh coal and 255 feet above the Upper Freeport. The Cambridge limestone is found about 126 feet beneath the Ames and 140 feet above the Upper Freeport coal. AREAL GEOLOGY The Ohio State Geologist's report for 1912 gives the subjoined account of this topic: The portion of the county treated in this connection will be Loudon, Lee, Fox, Perry, Union, Center and Orange townships. The more northern townships have only the basal beds of the Conemaugh formation. Loudon township—The only outcrops of Pittsburgh coal in Carroll County lie at the southern margin of Loudon Township. A hill-top in the extreme southeastern corner of section 10 has a few square rods of this seam at an altitude of 1,340 feet. There are also a few acres of the same coal in the eastern half of section 34. In Lee Township are found mines of the Harlem, the Barton and the Mahoning or "Strip Vein" coal, all dug in a small way. In Fox township most of the rocks at the surface lie in the lower half of the Conemaugh. The Upper Freeport is exposed along Riley Run, in the northeastern part and the "Strip Vein" thirty-five feet higher .has long since been opened On almost every farm. In Perry Township the Barton coal is mined in the hollow just east of Perryville and at other points to the northeast, lies about 45 feet CARROLL AND HARRISON COUNTIES - 9 beneath the Ames limestone. Beneath the coal is the Ewing limestone which is a conglomerate in most places near Perryville. In Union Township the surface represents the lower two-thirds of the Conemaugh ; the Ames limestone lies near the top of the hills and the Upper Freeport coal is dug in the valleys of the north fork of McGuire and Indian Run. In Center Township the ravines west of Carrollton extend below the base of the Conemaugh formation. The hill-tops in this portion of Center Township are a trifle over 1,100 feet above sea-level and reach the horizon of the Cambridge limestone. Brick company, along the railroad a mile southwest of Carrollton have laid bare a cliff of one hundred feet in height, at the base of which is a vein' of Mahoning coal. This lies about thirty-five feet above the Upper Freeport seam mine near here. Then comes seventy-nine feet of bluish-gray sandy shale that has weathered to greenish-gray near the surface. Finally, the section is capped by a sandstone twelve feet thick. This has an irregular conglomeratic base. Here and there in a sandy shale are carbonaceous streaks that have fossil plant impressions. No marine fossils which would indicate the place of the Brush Creek horizon were discovered. In Orange Township Conotton Creek and its chief tributaries have worn deep valleys which extend below the base of the Conemaugh rocks. The Upper Freeport coal has been mined for many years near Sherrodsville and along McGuire Creek. Hills in Orange Township over 1,200 feet above sea-level, reach the place of the Ames limestone, but the stratum is rather uncertain. It is also difficult to find outcrops of the Cambridge. COAL MINING Harlem coal has its best development in Jefferson, Carroll and Harrison counties. In no place is in more than about thirty inches thick. The best known quality is found in southeastern Carroll County, where it has been mined for many years and has supplied the entire country-side with its fuel. Of the Barton coal let it be stated that the area in Ohio for this coal is small and its thickness seldom more than two feet. It is mined to a limited amount in the southern part of Carroll County, in Perry Township. Mahoning coal is doubtless the most valuable coal in the Conemaugh formation. There are large areas of this in Jefferson, Carroll and Columbiana counties. COAL PRODUCTION OF CARROLL COUNTY, 1919