SANDUSKY Bay AND CEDAR POINT PAT 
THE Bar ENCROACHING ON THE MarsH. 
In 1885 Albert Judson, county surveyor, found that the 
west line of Huron Township had shortened “twelve rods”’ since 
the original survey made by Almon Ruggles in 1807. Near Rye 
Beach he found the shore had moved landward about ‘twenty 
rods.” A survey made by Rolla Chase in 1903 at the eastern 
border of Rye Beach showed the lake had there encroached on 
the land about 25 rods since 1816. The marsh at the outlet of 
Sawmill Creek, just west of Rye Beach, formerly extended out 
where the lake is now. The present marsh is well filled with liv- 
ing buttonbushes. In the lake on the other side of the bar the 
roots still stand where buttonbushes formerly grew. They have 
been seen as far out from the present shore as “‘fifteen rods.’’ 
some may also be seen projecting through the sand of the bare 
beach and one of these was noticed with green leaves. The cut 
bank and a few undermined trees show recent encroachment of 
the lake on the part of the bar extending from Rye Beach a little 
more than a mile. Some of the sand and gravel washed out has 
been carried over onto the marsh as may be seen in a number of 
places; more of it has probably been transported along the beach 
toward the northwest. 
At the mouth of the Black Channel I found that on the bar 
near the bay shore the auger after being turned through three or 
four feet of sand could be pushed to a depth of ten feet below 
water showing that here the bar had encroached on the marsh. 
This was Dec. 27, 1901. Attempts made the following month at 
four other places on the bar were unsuccessful in finding muck. 
In one of them the auger after boring 8 feet through the sand 
was stopped by a pebble or other obstruction. In the others it 
was turned after much labor to a depth of 11, 13, and 18 feet, and 
pulled out with improvised levers and in the case of the deepest 
a little turning. This led me to doubt whether the whole bar 
had moved onto the marsh. However, Jan. 28, 1905, I found a 
place in the marsh several rods from the bar where so much sand 
was mingled with the muck as to make it impossible to push the 
auger through it. The same day we succeeded in pushing the 
auger through several feet of muck beneath the bar a little less 
than two miles from Rye Beach. This convinced me that at 
the places where I had failed to find muck, the reason was that 
it had become so filled with sand as to prevent pushing the auger 
through it. In one at least of the places where trial was made 
Jan., 1902, the sand brought up was blackened with organic 
matter. 
At the Carrying Ground the bar rests on marsh muck and 
the muck extends out under the lake at least 38 rods, probably 
