J94 
GEOLOGY OF THE SECOND DISTRICT. 
ESSEX COUNTY. 
Surface and Mountain Ranges. 
The county of Essex contains 1162 square miles. On the east it is bounded by Lake 
Champlain, along which it extends 43 miles, from thence to the west 41 miles. It embraces 
a large portion of that tract of country which gives origin to the Hudson river, flowing south, 
,and to the Ausable, which flows northeast into Lake Champlain, and finally into the Gulf of 
the St. Lawrence. It is probably well known at the present time that it is a mountainous 
district, and that about the sources of the Hudson river are situated the highest lands in the 
State. These facts are presented in the strongest light, when I state that all the mountain 
chains of much importance north of the Mohawk valley, cross this county in a succession of 
high and sharp mountain ridges from southwest to northeast. 
The first range, the Luzerne mountains, barely touches upon Essex, and terminates in Ti- 
conderoga, in the southeast corner of the county. The second range, rising in Mayfield, passes 
in an oblique course through Schroon and Crown-Point, the highest part being in Schroon, 
whose principal elevation is called Pharaoh’s or Bluebeard mountain. The third range tra¬ 
verses the northwest angle of Schroon, Moriah, Elizabethtown and Willsborough, where it 
terminates upon the lake. The fourth, which is the great chain, and which takes its origin 
to the north of Little-Falls, passes nearly centrally through the county, entering it at the north¬ 
west angle, and terminating upon the lake at Port Kent. The whole range is called the 
Clinton chain, and the central part, which consists of several mountains, the Adirondack 
group: this portion gives origin to the Hudson river, and is situated at the culminating point 
of the range, from which it declines in all directions. Mount Marcy is the highest mountain 
in the group, attaining an elevation of 5467 feet. 
Of these several ranges, the highest peaks all fall within the bounds of Essex county. 
Pharaoh’s mountain in Schroon, Dix peak in the West-Moriah chain, and Mount Marcy in the 
Adirondack group, are respectively the highest peaks in the ranges in which they are situated; 
and as usual in all mountain chains, there is a gradual and sometimes rapid declination from 
the point of highest elevation in every direction. In these ranges this is the fact, and it brings 
a very great proportion of the high land within the territory of one county—the county of 
Essex. 
Exploration of the Mountains of Essex. 
During the early part of the survey, I deemed it important to explore the high lands of the 
northern counties, particularly those of Essex. At this period nothing had been published, 
and probably very little was known, in relation to this mountainous tract, especially as it 
regarded the actual heights of the principal mountains. During the survey, many of these 
