CHAPTER LXITI. 
~ REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF GUERNSEY COUNTY, NORTH OF 
THE CENTRAL OHIO RAILROAD. 
BY JNO. J. STEVENSON. 
Guernsey county is bounded on the north by Tuscarawas and Harrison, 
on the east by Belmont, on the south by Noble, and on the west by Mus- 
kingum and Coshocton. It is somewhat irregular in shape, has twenty 
townships, and embraces an area of somewhat more than five hundred 
square miles. 
The portion lying to the north of the Central Ohio Railroad has suffered 
much from erosion, and its surface shows numerous deeply excavated 
valleys and many sharply defined ridges. The drainage system consists 
of Wills Creek and its tributaries, which form almost a net-work over 
the entire county. Wills Creek follows a tortuous course north and south 
through the western portion, and has a fall of barely one foot per mile. 
It is a sluggish stream, carrying a good deal of water, which, at one time, 
was thought sufficient to justify an attempt at slack-water navigation. 
Formerly tremendous freshets- happened each year, during which the 
stream would overflow its banks and acquire a depth of ten to fifteen 
feet, which it would retain for several weeks. In earlier years it afforded 
an outlet for rafts and flat-boats, but of late, owing to the long-continued 
drouths, the water has been very low. Its bottoms are very broad and 
rich, and at several localities the valley presents scenes rarely excelled 
in quiet beauty. 
Aside from that on the bottoms, the soil is usually poor. As this county 
lies beyond the limit of drift action, its soil is derived chiefly from the 
underlying rocks. These are chiefly shales and sandstones, with but lit- 
tle limestones; so that, except on the eastern border, where the limestones 
at the base of the Upper Coal Group are reached, the soil is thin and 
loose. In some localities it affords barely hold for grasses on the hill- 
sides, and during heavy rains is washed out, forming deep gullies, which 
continue to increase in size, notwithstanding heaps of logs and brush 
thrown in to impede the erosion. Little of the land remains uncultiva- 
ted, and even the hill-sides are put in corn—a wasteful operation where 
