COAL MINES OF JACKSUN COUNTY. 1029 
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Ferriferous limestone—top of seam. 
The Lower Kittanning or Newcastle coal is preferred to the upper 
seam in this neighborhood. Wherever the limestone is found in this 
immediate district, it serves as a guide to the Kittanning coals, the lower 
of which is 15-25 feet above it, and the upper, 55 to 65 feet above. . 
The valley of Little Raccoon deserves more attention than it has 
hitherto received. The facts given above would indicate that a coal 
field of at least moderate possibilities may be developed here. 
The seam is due in but three townships of the county, viz., in Mil- 
ton, Bloomtield and Madison. It is known to hold less than three feet 
of marketable coal throughout much of this territory, and sometimes it 
is but little more than a mark. This is especially true in the western 
part of Madison. It does not, therefore, seem probable that it can 
add much to the mineral wealth of the county, aside from the 
unusual development in the valley of the Little Raccoon Creek, 
already noticed. 
The Lower Kittanning coal, No. 5, of the old scale, is locally known 
in these three last-named townships as the sandstone coal, deriving this 
designation from the fact that a massive sandrock almost everywhere 
covers it. A sandstone is also found below it in many instances, and 
now and then the coal appears as a streak in a sandstone ledge. This 
stratum extends from Jackson county to the Ohio Valley and beyond, 
making a conspicuous element in all sections, and being a prominent 
feature in the topography. In Jackson county it is locally a decided 
conglomerate. ‘This phase is well seen on Buckeye Furnace lands. 
The Lower Kittanning Coal. 
The lower coal is of much more value in this district than its com- 
panion seam, and it holds this character to the river. An unusual fact 
in connection with the seam is shown in this district. It is locally split 
into two coals, each having a thickness of 2 feet or more, and is sepa- 
rated by sandstone or sandy shales that attain a maximum of 8 or 10 
feet. This splitting of the seam can best be seen south of Jackson 
county, and will be described in the following chapter, but a few 
