PORTAGE COUNTY. 139 



stricted to a small island west of the river, in Mantua, and a narrow arm 

 which projects from Freedom northward, through Hiram, into Geauga. 



In the northern part of Portage county the Drift deposits are so thick 

 as to hide the outcrops of the coal rocks, and it is here very difficult to 

 trace the line along which the edge of the lowest coal seam should be 

 found. It is probable that coal, in greater or less thickness, underlies 

 the principal part of Hiram, the western half of Shalersville and Ra- 

 venna, and the south-western corner of Windham. The northern and 

 southern portion of Paris, and nearly all of Charlestown, lie above the 

 horizon of the lower coal, as do most of Palmyra, Deerfield, Brimfield, 

 and Suffield. 



Along a belt running through the central part of the county, the land 

 is high enough to carry the second and third seams of coal from the bot- 

 tom. With this breadth of coal area it would at first sight seem that 

 Portage county should produce as large an amount of coal as Trumbull, 

 and much more than Summit, but up to the present time the coal pro- 

 duction of the county has been exceedingly small. This arises from the 

 fact that the margin of the lower coal (Coal No. 1) is so generally covered 

 with Drift that it does not show itself at the surface in many localities, 

 and also that this coal here, as in the Mahoning Valley, lies in detached 

 basins of limited extent, and is entirely absent over large areas from the 

 place where it belongs, or is so thin as to be of little value. We may ex- 

 pect, however, that important basins of the Briar Hill coal will be found 

 within the limits that have been marked out. Were it not for the Drift 

 it would be easy to follow the outcrops of the rocks, and knowing just 

 where to explore by digging or boring, to determine the presence or ab- 

 sence of the coal. In the present circumstances, however, even where 

 coal may be supposed to exist, it can only be detected by boring blindly 

 through the Drift deposits. In many places these will doubtless be found 

 so thick as to cut out the coal, though the surface may be considerably 

 above the coal level. Even where the rocks which belong above the coal 

 may be found in place, from the irregular distribution of this seam, the 

 chances are more than equal that the result of boring will show it to be 

 absent, or too thin to have any economic value. Since, however, the 

 coal of this stratum is so excellent, it will be the part of wisdom for all 

 those who own territory lying within the lines I have traced to make 

 such explorations as may determine whether- or not they are in posses- 

 sion of some portion of this great source of wealth. The level of Coal 

 No. 1, in the northern half of Portage county, varies from five hundred 

 to six hundred feet above the Lake. The dip being toward the south, 

 the coal sinks rapidly in that direction, and rises correspondingly toward 



