ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY. 
209 
length ; and there is bifurcation of it, at a point 6 or 8 miles above Mur- 
phy, one branch pursuing a more southerly course, by way of Peachtree 
Creek and Brasstown Creek, making the whole iron range of the county 
above 30 miles. 
The most common and characteristic terms of the series, in cross sec- 
tion, are, counting from the northwest, slaty gneiss and mica schist, limo- 
nite, steatyte, marble, limonite, slaty quartzyte, slaty limonite, mica- 
schist and slaty gneiss. 
At several points there are two or three reduplications of the marble, and 
there are commonly intercalations of mica schists and hydro-mica slates 
between the different terms of the series. The section at Yalleytown 
shows two parallel beds of limonite on the slope of the mountains to the 
south, these beds being sometimes not more than 100 to 200 yards apart; 
the marble lies in the valley, and the slaty talc beds to the north side of 
the valley, and a bed of ochre north of that, outcropping in Paint Creek, 
6 to 10 feet wide. There are here two or three parallel beds of marble. 
Lower down, at the Parker Mine (gold), and across by the Taylor place, 
are, hrst, the 2 beds of limonite, some 200 j^ards apart ; then the valley, 
with its marble and steatyte, with an outcrop of limonite to the north. 
This is nearly half way between Yalleytown and Murphy. At Colbert’s, 
the quartzyte ridge appears with iron beds on both flanks. This is 6 to 7 
miles above Murphy, where some rude mining has been done for iron ore 
quite recently, and much more and more systematic mining in ancient 
times, by no one knows whom or for what purpose. There are still visible 
shafts more than a hundred feet deep, which are said to have been ap- 
proached by drifts, of which some signs of the entrance still remain. 
The marble here comes next the iron, to the northwest, and then the 
steatyte. The latter appears of unusually fine quality in a large bed 
near by, at Mrs. Leatherwoods. At Mrs. Hayes’, the quartzyte appears 
with its northern bed of limonite, followed b} r the marble, talc and another 
bed of limonite. At several points between this and Murphy the same 
terms of the series are discoverable. About one mile north of Murphy 
the quartzyte forms a high ridge, having the two beds of limonite, one 
on either flank, that on the northwest very fine and 25 feet thick. From 
this point much one has been obtained for the supply of the neighbor- 
hood forges, chiefly the one on Hanging Dog Creek. The iron was repu- 
ted of very good quality. Beyond this bed of ore in the same section, is 
the marble and talc of “ No. 6.” 
At one-half mile below Murphy there seem to be four limonite beds 
with a small outcrop of the quartzyte, the marble occupying the middle 
term of the section. One of these beds may be seen in the streets of 
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