438 
GEOLOGY OF THE FOURTH DISTRICT. 
the local name of shot ore. Bog iron also occurs one mile, and one and a half miles west of 
Ridgeway corners. 
In Ridgeway, between the ridge and west branch of Oak-orchard creek, there is a swamp 
covering four hundred or five hundred acres, containing an abundance of bog ore, from which 
iron has been manufactured. 
Quicklime. 
The limestone range in the southern part of this county furnishes an abundant supply of 
materials for lime of an excellent quality. Kilns are erected south of Shelby, at Millsville, 
about one mile south of Williams’s quarry in the town of Barre, and at other places in the lime¬ 
stone region. At Barre, and on the range to Clarendon, the rock is of a light blue color, and 
occurs in large irregular and ragged masses, either forming ledges, or scattered profusely over 
the surface. It resembles very closely in character the limestone at the Bull’s Head, one 
mile from Rochester, and contains generally the same fossils. 
Two miles west of Farwell’s mills, occurs a dark blue, bituminous, magnesian limestone, 
containing fossils. 
Hydraulic Lime. 
We were informed that the upper layers of the rock at the falls of Oak-orchard creek, at 
Shelby, are advantageously used for the manufacture of water cement. They consist of a 
sandy limestone, but do not resemble in texture and other characters the best hydraulic lime¬ 
stone. The cement used in the aqueduct at Medina was from this place, and has stood the 
test of time as well as any other on the canal. 
At Farwell’s mills, Clarendon, there is a deposit of sandy limestone, slightly bituminous, 
agreeing in texture, color and other characters, with the most approved hydraulic limestones 
of the western counties, and, according to Judge Farwell, has been burned, and converted into 
water cement of an excellent quality. This stone is also used for building. 
Building and Flagging Stones. 
The Medina sandstone prevails in the northern half of the county, and is exposed almost 
continuously along the Erie canal, from Holley to Medina. North of the canal it is seen in 
the banks or beds of the creeks, and in other situations near the surface, which it immediately 
underlies. It has been mentioned in the preceding pages, as frequently soft, argillaceous, 
and not durable ; yet there are courses of this rock which are more dense, or siliceous, and 
furnish an excellent material for building. 
A little north and west of Medina is a quarry, which has furnished a handsome pink-colored 
sandstone in large slabs and blocks, with smooth surfaces and of good texture. 
