STEUBEN COUNTY. 
483 
In passing from Howard to the Canisteo valley, at Hornellsvillc, we cross the highest hills 
in this part of the county. The rocks consist of portions of the last named group ; shaly sand¬ 
stone, shale and siliceous sandstone, all containing fossils, are found along the whole distance. 
The northern drift, confined to lower levels, is not seen along the road from Howard to 
Canisteo; and the soil is a clayey gravel, formed from the substrata, and not highly water- 
worn. In descending into the valley of the Canisteo, we again come upon the northern drift, 
which is the soil of the valley, and covers the lower slope of the hills. 
Five miles from the Canisteo, on Bennett’s creek, there is a thick mass of sandstone, over¬ 
laid by calcareous sandstone, containing abundance of fossils of Strophomena and Delthyris• 
The stone is very firm and durable, and easily quarried in blocks of necessary size for build¬ 
ing ; and the part containing fossils is much used as a firestone. 
Nine miles from the Canisteo, at Lagrange, in the town of Greenwood, the rocks are seen 
both along Bennett’s and Rigg’s creeks ; and at the point of land near their junction are seve¬ 
ral courses of sandstone proper for grindstones. The whole thickness is from eight to ten feet, 
and the layers from two to eight inches. In ascending Rigg’s creek, these strata disappear 
beneath the surface, and are succeeded by greenish shale, with thin layers of silico-calca- 
reous rock with fossils. This shale contains iron pyrites, and decomposes rapidly. The 
grindstone stratum is visible on the west bank of Bennett’s creek, and extends a mile north 
to Rock creek, and was also traced up the latter a mile above the junction. Its outcropping 
edges are found in the hills farther north ; but the better situations for quarrying are along 
the banks of the small streams. The character of the mass is, however, variable ; and its 
fitness for grindstones cannot, in all places, be relied on. At the mouth of Rock creek, it is 
much harder than at the quarry on Rigg’s creek. 
The exposed portions of the strata are greyish-brown, slightly stained with iron, rather 
porous and soft, and containing scales of mica. The rock above and below the grindstone 
portion is green shale; this, in some places, abounds with fossils, as at Rock creek, while 
above, the green shale, fifty feet thick, is not fossiliferous. It contains some thin layers of 
sandstone, and is succeeded by a stratum of sandstone about ten feet thick. This latter con¬ 
tains fossils, while the grindstone mass embraces few or none. The upper sandstone is also 
more hard and coarse than that below, and well fitted for building, underpinning and ordinary 
firestone. This is again succeeded by greenish shale. This place is between four hundred 
and five hundred feet above the Canisteo, and fifteen hundred feet above tide water. The 
source of Bennett’s creek is about eight hundred feet above the Canisteo, and the surrounding 
hills are several hundred feet higher. Four or five miles south of the village of Lagrange, a 
sandstone is quarried on the land of Mr. Marshall, and used for hearth-stones, tomb-stones, 
etc. Grindstones are obtained in Canisteo, on the land of Mr. Carter; in Woodhull on the 
land of William Stroud, esquire, and elsewhere; in Jasper, on the land of Colonel Towsley. 
These quarries supply all the surrounding country. They are of great economical importance; 
and the occurrence of similar rock in so many different places renders it probable that the 
mass is continuous. 
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