206 THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF CECIL COUNTY 



BRICK AND TERRA COTTA CLAYS. 



The brick and terra cotta clays of the area along the railroad are 

 best developed in the areas about Perryville, Principio, Charlestown, 

 Bacon Hill, and Elkton. 



In the railroad cut just north of Perryville station is an exposure 

 of Pleistocene clay suitable for brick manufacture at least 12 feet 

 thick and 600 feet long. The location of this bed so near the track 

 increases its value because of the ease with which either the raw 

 clay or the finished product may be shipped. At the deep cut east 

 of Principio station there is an unusually large bed of variegated 

 clay of Patapsco age which is likewise very well situated for ship- 

 ping facilities. The clay at this point is at least 20 feet thick and is 

 overlain by 15 to 25 feet of merchantable saud. The clay is the 

 ordinary red and white variegated clay, which is rather dense 

 and tough requiring more pugging that is usually given to thor- 

 oughly mix the red and white streaks to a uniform color. An- 

 other large body occurs in the hill west of Charlestown where 

 the large amount of clay and the situation near railroad and tide- 

 water means of transportation make an ideal site for a brick-making 

 plant. At this place and nearby at Broad Creek there are other clays 

 suitable for the manufacture of stoneware and pottery. Still another 

 favorable site for an extensive clay-working establishment occurs in 

 the immediate vicinity of Bacon Hill station where there are prac- 

 tically inexhaustible supplies of variegated Patapsco clays suitable 

 for the manufacture of brick or possibly terra cotta. The local brick 

 plant at Elkton uses Pleistocene clay. The new railroad cut east of 

 Elkton near Grays Hill exposes other large deposits of immense 

 extent of variegated and drab clays. This would seem to be an ex- 

 cellent location for the development of an extensive brick-making 

 plant with its excellent railroad connection with Philadelphia, Wil- 

 mington and Baltimore. 



The brick deposits on the shores of Elk Neck are less valuable 

 than those already mentioned but their excellent location for the 

 transportation, by water, of the raw product or of the manufactured 



