HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY
CHAPTER 1

THE ARGILLACEOUS LIMESTONE

Above the coal trace is argillaceuus limestone (No. 13 above). It is compact. thin-bedded, grayish, with a subconchoidal fracture, and possesses hydraulic properties. On the Trimble farm it is thirty feet thick, and on Section 6, Township 2 north, Range 1 east, is fifteen feet thick. In places it is earthy or rotten. Its section at the last place is as follows:

Fossils are well preserved only in the chert. In the argillaceous strata was found a large cast of Bellerophon. The porous limestone (No. 12) is soft and earthy, will not make good lime, but is better as cement rock. The lithological characters of the strata change as Lost River and Carter’s Creek are descended, as most of the members become more compact, and the argillaceous is used for the foundations of houses. On Lost River, at the crossing of the Orleans and Livonia Road, the following is the section:

THE CONCRETIONARY LIMESTONE

The concretionary limestone is a massive stone of grayish color, usually breaking with conchoidal fracture and possesses many of the properties of a lithographic stone. The concretions are thin flat plates or nodules, the rounded forms being amorphous geodes without fossils. They are of all shapes, often bearing striking resemblance to some fruit or the head of some animal, and under a good glass are very beautiful. The laminated form occurs in irregular masses, ranging from a few lines to two or more inches in thickness, and from one to three feet in diameter. They are darker and more flinty than chert, and are nearly always fossiliferous. This strata is found in great abundance in Orleans, Paoli and Stampers Creek Townships beneath the soil and chert. It is exposed in a tract of country about five miles wide, extending from Orleans toward Livonia. It may be seen on Section 2, Township 2 north, Range 1 west, at the railroad cut east of Orleans; below the sink of Lost River, where it becomes more magnesian, is almost destitute of bryozoans and is rarely lithographic. On the farm of Mr. Hicks, Orangeville Township, the concretionary limestone has been quarried in three strata with shaly partings. The three differ in shade and fineness, but all are very beautiful and valuable. They are susceptible of tbe highest polish, are locally used for tombstones, and slabs; when struck with a hammer, ring like a bar of steel. His quarry is very valuable. At the fourth sink of Lost River the section is as follows:*

The court house at Paoli is 109 feet above the sink of Lost River, and hence is 599 feet above the level of the sea.

*From the report of Prof. Richard Owen in 1859—60.

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