GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF NEW YORK 33 



One outcrop is at the prominent point or hill northwest of the sta- 

 tion where a lo-foct layer has been quarried. The material is simi- 

 lar to that already described. Following south up a branch of Nine 

 Mile creek another outcrop is seen just south of the station f]\Iar- 

 tisco) on the Marcelliis Falls Railroad. It is about 20 feet in 

 thickness and extends for some 150 feet along the road. 



A few miles to the west the Auburn Railroad runs through a 

 steep sided valley, and on either bank gypsum deposits are fre- 

 quent. Probably the purest deposit of gypsum noted in the county 

 was encountered in this ledge in an old quarry about half way 

 between Halfway and Martisco. The quarry is now the property 

 of Fred Chapman of Martisco and Monroe Hill of Elbridge. It 

 is situated just off the road about ^ mile south of the Auburn 

 track on the face of an escarpment. The gypsum bed appears at 

 an elevation of about 100 feet above the railroad. The quarry 

 shows about 15 feet of gypsum in all, of which 4 feet is of much 

 better grade than the average for Onondaga county. It is a grayish 

 to white crystalline mass dotted with brown cleavable crystals and 

 resembles the rock found at Oakfield, Akron and Garbutt. It is 

 overlain by 20 feet of limestone, and the expense of stripping is 

 the probable cause of idleness. No other outcrops were foimd 

 in the vicinity, so that no idea of the extent of this stratum could 

 be formed. It seems, however, a deposit well worth investigation, 

 since a few test holes back on the ledge and along the outcrop would 

 soon fix the boundaries of the good rock. Its favorable situation 

 for working and its accessibility are evident. Some form of gravity 

 tramway or aerial bucket tram could easily be constructed, a tunnel 

 driven into the hillside, and the rock shipped on the iVuburn road. 

 The quarry was formerly owned by Abner Taylor and the rock was 

 ground by Dwyer 8z Canear in their mill, long since abandoned. 



The abundance of gypsum outcrops on the sides of the deep cut 

 valleys between Camillus and Halfway would seem to indicate the 

 former presence of a persistent and continuous g>^sum bed over 

 that region and it is probable that underlying the Helderberg lime- 

 stones on most of the hills, gypsum beds would be found. From 

 Halfway on to the western boundary of the county no gypsum de- 

 ix)sits have been recorded, although there seems no reason to doubt 

 their existence in that section. 



