CHAPTER LIL. 
REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF NOBLE COUNTY. 
This county is quite irregular in outline. It is bounded on the north 
by Guernsey, on the east by Belmont and Monroe, on the south by Wash- 
ington, and on the west by Morgan and Muskingum. The southern part 
of the county is drained by the waters of Duck Creek, which flows south 
to meet the Ohio at Marietta, and the northern part by the waters of 
Will’s Creek, which flows northward and empties into the Muskingum. 
The soil in the valleys is generally rich and productive, and in many 
townships are abundant limestones, which greatly enrich the soil of the 
hill-sides. 
The county lies wholly within the Coal Measures, and is rich in coal. 
The high lands almost every where contain the upper Salem, or Cum- 
berland seam, and the Cambridge seam is known to exist beneath the 
surface in fine development in the northern part of the county. Some 
excellent iron ores have been found at different points. Brine for the 
manufacture of salt will be found almost every where by boring, and 
salt can be made cheaply with the small and refuse coals of the mines. 
- Petroleum in considerable quantities has been obtained in the southern 
part of the county. Now that a railroad has been constructed through 
the Duck Creek valley, we may hope for a large increase of production 
of oil whenever the price will render production remunerative. The 
Marietta, Pittsburgh and Cleveland Railroad, extending through the 
whole length of the county from south to north, is destined to prove of 
incalculable benefit to the people of the county by aiding the Peele: 
ment of their vast mineral resources. 
BROOKFIELD TOWNSHIP. 
This township lies in the north-west corner of the county. The land 
is generally high, and the water drains in several directions. In the 
north-west part the streams flow northward into Will’s Creek, on the 
east they flow into Duck Creek, and in the south-western part into a 
