192 Ohio State Academy of Science 



plat shows the nearest part of the shore 49 rods away. Charles 

 W. White estimates that the shore was 15 or 20 rods farther 

 north about twenty-five years ago. Just west of this the north- 

 west quarter of section four, Townsend, contained: 



1820 122.21 Acres. 



1886 about 80 



1890 " 70 



1904 " 65 



About an acre of this farm, i. e., a strip a rod wide, disap- 

 peared in the storm of June 29, 1902, already referred to and 

 another acre in a northeaster the latter part of March, 1903. 



The whole north shore of the bay from the mouth of the river 

 nearly or quite to the bay bridge has receded since 1820, but less 

 than twenty rods in most places. The west line of Section 4 

 D anbury township is given in the original survey, Wright and 

 Mulhall's, as fifty-seven chains. In 1904 I found it to be but 

 47.11 chains, showing a loss of nearly forty rods. The shore line 

 in their time was probably near where Presque Isle is now. 

 South of section 9, Portage Township, were 21.42 acres of 

 school land according to the survey of P. F. Kellogg, 1820. Only 

 three acres of this now remain, but some forty rods south of the 

 present shore may still be seen at time of low water the remains 

 ■of a chimney marking the site of a house. J. W. Lockwood 

 remembers being there about 1835 when there was quite a yard 

 between the house and bay. 



Between Venice and the western part of Sandusk}^ the shore 

 has receded about twenty rods. 



The amount of land replaced by open water since 1820 may 

 be roughly estimated as 2^3 square miles, without counting any 

 west of Eagle Island. The amount converted into marsh, 

 including the marshes west of Eagle Island, is probably eight or 

 ten square miles so that the total loss of land about Sandusky 

 Bay may be as much as twelve square miles. 



Marshes. 



The recession of the shore line has been due both to erosion 

 and higher water, the formation of marshes to the latter cause 

 alone. The greatest change has occurred at the head of the bay. 

 Seen from the deck of the Steamer Hayes, August 30, 1904, when 

 about half a mile west of Winous Point, the marsh and open 

 water appeared to extend three miles or more from north to 

 south. A great part of this was dry land during the early part 

 of the 19th century, but how large a part it seems impossible to 

 ascertain. A plat of the region giving the results of a survey 

 completed in 1893 by Edgar Brennan, C. E., distinguishes tilla- 



