CHAPTER LXXXIII. 
REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF COSHOCTON COUNTY. 
BY J. T. HODGE.* 
GENERAL FEATURES. 
Coshocton county lies wholly in the great bituminous coal field, 
reaching close to its western margin. Its surface is, in appearance, very 
rough and hilly; yet, there are no ridges, and rarely any point of consid- 
erable elevation above the general summit-level. This level, which is 
that of the great plateau of Hastern Ohio, and the neighboring country 
farther east, varies little from 1,100 to 1,200 feet above the sea. Bythe 
excavation of the valleys below it, the surface has been carved into hills, 
the slopes of which descend to the general depth of 350: to 400 feet. 
That the surface of the great plateau once stood considerably higher, is 
rendered probable by the occasional occurrence of a mound of hard 
strata, standing like a monument above the general level. A very con- 
spicuous one of this kind, rising about eighty feet higher than the sum- 
mit of the highlands about it, and composed, apparently, of beds of 
Conglomerate (loose pieces of which cover its top and steep sides), is 
seen near Coshocton county, in Tuscarawas, opposite Port Washington. 
Another, of similar appearance, is seen in the north-east part of Coshoc- 
ton county, just north of the road between Chili and Bakersville. 
As the highlands of the county appear to have once been considera- 
bly higher than now, so the bottoms of the valleys were obviously once 
much deeper than at present; for (as already explained of other portions 
of the State, in the first Annual Report) below the surface of the valleys 
are frequently accumulations of sand, clays, and gravels, reaching to the 
* The survey of Coshocton county," was made by Prof. Hodge, in 1872, and the MS. of 
his report was sent from Marquette, Michigan, where he had gone to escape hay-asthma, 
just previous to his starting to return on the steamer Coburn, which foundered in Lake 
Huron, with the loss of all on board. (See notice of Prof. H., in vol. I, part 1, p. 12, 
note.) The report has recently been revised, and brought up to date, by Mr. M. C. Read. 
