414 
GEOLOGY OF THE FOURTH DISTRICT, 
CHAPTER XXII, 
Local Geology and Economical Products of the Counties comprising the Fourth 
Geological District. 
[ The details of this chapter have been chiefly extracted from the Annual Reports of the District.} 
WAYNE COUNTY* 
The rocks of this county consist of the Medina sandstone, Clinton group, Niagara group, 
and the Onondaga salt group, ranging in nearly an east and west direction throughout the 
county. In the eastern part of the county the Medina sandstone forms but a narrow belt 
along the lake, but gradually expands towards the west. The other groups follow in succes¬ 
sion. The best lines of exposure are from the Wolcott furnace southward along the creek; 
at Whiting’s mill, about three miles further east; at Sodus bay, and in Ontario. The Clin¬ 
ton group presents some interesting features in this county which have not been observed far¬ 
ther eastward ; and the geologist will find ihe Wolcott ore-bed, the creek at Wolcott’s furnace, 
Whiting’s mill, the former Shaker settlement, and the town of Ontario, interesting localities 
of these rocks, their minerals and fossils. 
South of the Ridge road the country is occupied by numerous long, narrow and parallel 
ridges, rising from twenty-five to thirty-five feet above the general level, and having uniformly 
a north and south direction. The ridges are composed of sand and gravel. 
They extend regularly as far north as the Ridge road, where they all terminate. This 
was observed particularly in the towns of Sodus, Williamson, and Ontario. We saw no 
instance in which these ridges cross the Ridge road.} On the old Sodus road we travel north¬ 
ward, for about a mile, between two of these parallel ridges, which are here quite as high as 
any in the county, when, upon descending a little towards the flat country, they terminate, 
and here a continuation of the lake ridge connects the points of these ridges or hills. This 
place is about half a mile south of Griffith’s tavern, in the town of Sodus, From this point 
to the lake, the country is a gradually descending plain. 
‘The details of this county are principally from the Report of the late Dr. G. W. Boyd. (Ann. Rep. of the District for 1838) 
f This circumstance is referred to particularly, because the fact is important in considering the origin of the lake ridge. 
