146 THE CLAYS OF ARKANSAS. 
CLAY INDUSTRY. 
Notwithstanding the fact that Ouachita County is remarkably well 
supplied with potter's clays, no clay industry is known to exist in the 
county at the present time, and the only plant that has existed, and 
of which information could be had, was a pottery located about 8 
miles south of Camden and about 2 miles from Ouachita River, on the 
farm now belonging to Mr. Thomas Patton (Camden post-office) . The 
clay is said to have come from one of the stratified beds of the hillside. 
The pottery has not been in operation since the breaking out of the 
civil war. 
PHILLIPS COUNTY. 
GENERAL GEOLOGY. 
The southern half of Phillips County is covered by the alluvial 
deposits of Mississippi and White rivers. The northern half is broken 
by Crowleys Ridge, which has its southern terminus at Helena, on 
Mississippi River. West of the ridge is a series of much lower ridges, 
or low swells, which have a general north and south direction. These 
smaller ridges are broken by streams and intervening depressions. 
The elevation of the lowlands in the southern portion of the county 
is but a few feet above the water in Mississippi River. The elevation 
of the depot at Helena is 194 feet above sea level. The highest point 
on the top of the ridge at Helena is 198.9 feet above the zero gage. 
The elevation of the zero gage is 148.85 feet above sea level. The top 
of the ridge is therefore 347.75 feet above sea level, and about 150 feet 
above the lowlands to the west. 
The bluffs along the south end of the ridge in the vicinity of Helena 
give good exposures of Tertiary and Quaternary strata. The loess 
covers the top and sides of the ridge here as at most places throughout 
the State. The rearranged product of the loess covers the older 
underlying strata, which are seen at only a few places. 
At the west end of Cherry street in Helena, and along the bluff to 
the south, there is a bed of iron-stained pebbles, which greatly re- 
semble the pebbles of the Lafayette formation. The top of the 
pebble bed stands at an elevation of 205 feet. Immediately above 
the bed of pebbles comes about 10 feet or more of orange-colored 
loam. Overlying the loam is an apparent soil zone, having a maxi- 
mum thickness of 10 feet. This is present in many places, but it is 
at others absent. The remaining part of the bluff is composed of 
typical calcareous loess, containing numerous land shells. 
In places where recent excavations have been made the loess is 
distinctly stratified. Viewed from a distance it has a general stratified 
appearance, but when more closely inspected many more faint lines 
of stratification can be seen. 
