Columbia County 221 



TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS 



The surface La diversified. Tho Taeoirir Mountains extend 

 along the (.astern border and the adjoining parts of the county 

 arc broken by numerous irregular ranges of hills. The western 

 part of the county is an undulating plateau, which extends to the 

 river and generally terminates either in bold shores or bluffs. 

 The principal streams are Kinderhook and Claverack creeks, 

 which unite and pour into the Hudson through Stockport Creek. 

 A number of small lakes and ponds lie in the eastern and south- 

 ern portions. The prevailing rocks are the Hudson River 

 shales, with outcroppings of slate rocks and limestone. 



DESCRIPTION BY TOWNSHIPS 

 Anceam : The surface is broken and hilly. In the eastern 

 part the hills range in a north and south direction; elsewhere 

 they are irregular. The hills in the northwest are high, but rise 

 with a very gradual slope. Along the course of the two principal 

 streams in the north center of the town the land is flat, low, and 

 swampy, extending over a region of several hundred acres. The 

 principal streams are Roeliff Jansen Kill and Punch Brook. A 

 narrow intervale bordered by steep, irregular hills extends along 

 the course of the former. The soil is generally a gravelly loam 

 intermixed with clay. In the east and southeast there is con- 

 siderable limestone soil and in the intervale bordering the stream 

 are quantities of alluvial deposits. The soil is productive and 

 fertile and generally easily tilled. Some of the land is particu- 

 larly adapted to grazing purposes. 



Products: Af ilk, hay. buckwheat, potatoes, rye, and oats. 

 Average values of farm land range from $5 to $100 an acre. 



Austeelitz : The surface is hilly and broken. Along the east 

 side of the town the Taeonic Mountains rise in a series of high, 

 rounded peaks. At their foot on the east lies the valley of the 

 Green River. Further west the surface rises in a series of irreg- 

 ular hills. The western part of the town is undulating. Most of 

 the hills are arable to their summits, but in the north center they 

 are rocky, barren, and sterile. The soil is generally a slaty or 



