STAEK COUNTY. 153 



more westerly, is one hundred feet deep, all drift. At the charity school, 

 as I learned from the Hon. A. C. Wales, a well was sunk to a depth of 

 ninety feet, through beds of sand and gravel, without reaching the rock. 

 An interesting fact connected with this well is that, near the bottom, 

 logs of coniferous wood, apparently cedar, were taken out. About a mile 

 east of this point, at the mine of J. B. Hawkins, coal is worked, and the 

 underlying rocks are covered with a thin coating of earth only. It is 

 evident, therefore, that here the east side of the old Tuscarawas valley is 

 reached. As the rock is exposed on both sides of the river at Massillon 

 and Millport, we see that the river is now running on the west side of its 

 ancient trough, and though it here has a rocky bottom, east of its pres- 

 ent course the rock would not be found, even at a considerably greater 

 depth. Just how deep the ancient valley of the Tuscarawas is in this 

 section of the county we have no means of ascertaining, but we learn 

 from the salt wells bored at Canal Dover that the bottom of the rocky 

 valley is there one hundred and seventy-five feet below the surface of 

 the stream. Another, and perhaps the most important of these ancient 

 lines of drainage, runs between Canton and Massillon. At the " Four- 

 mile Switch," half way between these towns, rock comes near the surface, 

 and coal has been worked at Bahney's mine and other places in this 

 vicinity. Explorations have been made, which show that between 

 " Four-mile Switch " and Massillon is a ridge of rock, which lies between 

 two valleys, viz., that through which the Tuscarawas flows, and another 

 completely filled, between Massillon and Canton. 



Between Massillon and Navarre the road for the most part lies upon a 

 terrace, the surface of which is about seventy-five feet above the river. 

 This terrace is part of a plateau, which extends in some places more 

 than a mile east of the river. It is composed of gravel and sand, of 

 which the depth is not known. On the other side of the Tuscarawas the 

 rock comes to the surface, quarries have been opened, and borings for, 

 coal have been made, which show that for some miles below Massillon 

 comparatively little drift covers the rock. It is evident, therefore, that 

 the ancient river channel passed under the terrace over which the road 

 runs from Massillon to Navarre. Below Navarre the river sways over to 

 the east side of its ancient valley, striking its rocky border on the "Wet- 

 more tract." Here the gravel-beds, which fill the old valley, are on the 

 west side of the river. 



Taken by themselves, these deeply excavated and filled-up valleys 

 which traverse Stark county would be somewhat incomprehensible, but 

 when considered in connection with other facts of similar character, they 

 help to form a record, which, though still somewhat obscured, may, I 



