CHAPTER XLII. 



REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF HANCOCK COUNTY. 



BY N. H. "W1NCHELL. 



SITUATION AND AREA. 



Hancock county is situated within the Lake Erie valley. Its county 

 seat, Findlay, is forty-two miles almost due south from Toledo. It is 

 bounded north by Wood county, east by Seneca and Wyandot, south by 

 Hardin, and west by Allen and Putnam. It contains nearly fifteen 

 towns. 



NATURAL DRAINAGE. 



The Blanchard is the principal stream of the county. Entering it 

 from the south, after flowing fifteen miles in a northward direction it 

 turns at a right angle westward, and continues in that direction till it 

 passes into Putnam county, receiving tributaries only from the south. 

 Among these may be named Lye Creek, Eagle Creek, and Ottawa Creek. 

 In the northern part of the county different branches of the Portage 

 also take rise, flowing first toward the west and then toward the north. 

 These are all small streams, although the Blanchard, which is subject to 

 sudden and sometimes devastating increase of waters, was declared by 

 the early surveys navigable as far as Fort Findlay. 



SURFACE FEATURES. 



The country in general may be denominated flat. This is particularly 

 the fact in the townships of Delaware, Madison, Eagle (except the south- 

 ern portion), Jackson, Amanda, Big Lick, and Marion. These townships 

 also contain vast tracts of the ancient forest. They are poorly drained, 

 both naturally and artificially, and in many extensive areas the surface 

 is under water for several months in spring and early summer. While 

 the remainder of the county is diversified with a little undulation of 

 surface, it also contains some very flat tracts. Rarely, however, are these 

 flat tracts, even in the townships specified, covered with a black or peaty 



