A Walk to the Paoli Pine-Barrens 



BY WILLIAM J. SEKRILL 



One day last summer, the 9th of June, 1900, Wm. L. Daily 

 and I paid a visit to the so-called Paoli Barrens. We started 

 from Paoli, and enjoyed one of the finest walks of the season. 



If you look upon a geological map of Chester and Delaware 

 counties, you will notice it is pretty liberal!}' spotted with green 

 blotches, looking for all the world as if tlie map-maker had at- 

 tempted to i^rint in the naines of the townships with a bad pen, 

 which had splattered the ink all over the page. These blots 

 represent areas of serpentine. The farmer whose land extends 

 within the limits of one of these green spots is not envied by 

 his neighbors, as the soil is sterile and barren, as different as 

 may be from the fine farming and grazing acres of Chester 

 county. 



One of the largest of these serpentine tracts extends from a 

 point about a mile and a half southwest of Paoli station, in a 

 southwesterly direction, across the townships of Willistown and 

 East Goshen, Chester county. This strip of land is half a mile 

 to a mile wide, and about five miles long. The eastern end of 

 this strip is the part of the Barrens included in our visit. 



The countr}' at this point is comparatively flat, forming part 

 of that table land which is known to geologists as South Valley 

 Hill, to the north of which is the majestic sweep of the Chester 

 Valley, while on the south the high ground breaks away later- 

 ally into the valleys of those streams which, rising on the table 

 land in Chester county, flow mainly through Delaware county, 

 forming its chief glory, and making it one of the most charm- 

 ing regions in the State. These streams are Cobbs, Darby, 

 Crum, Ridley, and Chester Creeks. 



Flowing through a delightfully fertile and rural land, they 



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