250 ANNUAL REPORT 
a dry hole in the southwest quarter of section 35; a dry hole on the Hund- 
man farm in the northeast quarter of section 12; a dry hole on the Ekey 
farm in the southeast quarter of section 11. Several wells have been 
drilled at Brilliant on the river bank. One of these produced gas, which 
was used in a rolling mill. The well is said to have been ruined by the 
flood of 1884. The interval between the Pittsburg coal and the Berea 
sand in this locality is reported at 1,560 feet. 
Warren Township.—One dry hole has been reported from this town- 
ship. This was drilled many years ago near the village of Portland. 
COLUMBIANA COUNTY. 
The surface rocks in this county lie in the Allegheny formation or 
Lower Productive and the Conemaugh formation or Lower Barren Coal 
Measures. The eastern and southern parts are hilly, the highest points 
rising more than 500 feet above the valley of the Ohio river. The 
strata dip rapidly to the south: thus at Wellsville the Berea is found at a 
depth approximating 550 feet below the river valley, while at Steubenville 
the same formation is found at about 1,200 feet. The distance between the 
two places is about 20 miles. From this county north the Berea ceases to 
be a deep formation, meaning by this that the sand rarely attains a depth 
of 800 feet, even in the south, and in many cases is much less than this. 
A very large amount of drilling has been done in this county and 
much of it dates back to an early day. The city of East Liverpool, in 
the southeast corner of the county, must be regarded as one of the pioneer 
natural gas places in this country. The first well is reported to have been 
drilled in 1859,4 and to have found gas at a depth of 450 feet. Whether 
this well resulted from Drake’s discovery in Pennsylvania, or whether from 
a search for brine for the salt works, does not appear certain. It is 
claimed that after this well was finished a committee went to Fredonia, 
New York, to ascertain what use was there made of the gas and how it was 
controlled. 
Mire, dnl IX, Jebull repocs lngiwhoere wobec a Geen welll Gillecl at 
this place on his return from the army in 1865. It was sunk for oil, but 
was unsuccessful in this respect. However, it did yield gas, though this 
was regarded worthless. Mr. Hill secured control of this product, and . 
used it in two residences and a pottery. Later he drilled another well 
near this one, securing so strong a flow of gas that the well was known as 
the “Bonanza.” Among other purposes this gas was used for lighting the 
streets. Several additional wells were drilled in the sarne vicinity, and 
then Mr. Hill sold out to the Bridgewater Gas Company. From the period 
of these early wells drilling has been done from time to time in this 
vicinity until 1900, when two wells were sunk in the Ohio valley. The 
prime object of nearly all this work was to secure gas for the potteries, but 
the effort has been unsuccessful. The production has been small and the 
1Hncyclopedia Brit., Ninth Ed., Vol. X, p. 88. 
