72 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS. 



massive, very blue, and excessively hard ; but yet the Cincinnati group 

 would not furnish stone suitable for massive and solid masonry, or for 

 long continued resistance to the action of the elements. The Galena 

 limestone furnishes a good material for the heavier kinds of masonry. 

 It is a rough, unshapely stone, requiring much labor to lay it, but when 

 well dressed and laid, it seasons into great hardness, and takes a beauti- 

 ful cream or chocolate color. Nearly all the stone work in the city of 

 Freeport, is built of this stone. The new gothic Presbyterian Church, 

 just completed, at great expense, is a noble, imposing structure, whose 

 walls were taken from the Freeport quarries. For heavy pier work, this 

 stone is uuequaled. The Blue and Buff both afford a good stone for 

 building purposes. The upper strata are too thin and irregular, but the 

 lower blue strata afford the most beautiful building stone to be found in 

 this part of the State. The only difficulty seems to be, the great labor 

 in quarrying, on account of the great amount of worthless materials to 

 be removed before reaching the handsome and valuable portions of the 

 quarries. 



Minerals. Some bog iron ore may be found in some of the marshes, 

 but it is of little value and limited extent. Pieces of float copper have 

 been picked up in the gravel-beds, but they are of rare occurrence, and 

 come from regions far remote. Galena, or common lead ore, is and has 

 been mined for, to some extent. There is an old crevice mine near the 

 mouth of Yellow creek, that has often engaged attention in years past, 

 but no heavy amounts of mineral have ever been taken from it. From 

 the quarries near Lena, " chunks" as large as the fist have been taken. 

 In the township of Oneco, a company of Freeport men prospected to a 

 considerable extent, and obtained several hundred pounds of mineral. 

 Near Weitzel's mill some " prospecting " has been carried on. Along 

 the banks of Yellow creek, some " float mineral " has been picked up ; 

 and in almost any of the quarries, small bits of the ore may be detected. 

 But none of these localities have shown heavy bodies of lead. Indeed, 

 the Galena limestone, notwithstanding its general prevalence in this 

 county, seems to be very unproductive of rich bodies of mineral wealth. 

 The probabilities are, that no rich, or even good paying diggings will 

 ever be discovered, for the simple reason that they do not exist within 

 the borders of the county. Small deposits undoubtedly do exist, and 

 will occasionally create some excitement, and invite the expenditure of 

 mining capital, but, in our opinion, capital thus spent will never make 

 remunerative returns. 



Peat. At several localities peat beds of some value have been dis- 

 covered. On the farm of a Mr. WHITE, in township 26, range 9, a bed 

 of about fifty acres exists. It is from three to six feet deep, and is 

 underlaid by a tough, tenacious, dark-colored fire clay ; the peat is of a 



