COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES P c lle y — Most of the rocks in this township are of the Chcmung-Catskill formations. The Clinton iron ore has been extensively mined along the sides o f Montour ridge, being fol lowed to great depths by means o f drifts, the dip being about 30 degrees. Limestone quar ries were numerous in the days o f iron work ing, but now have passed into disuse. About 8 m feet is the greatest elevation in this town ship. on Montour ridge. IPest Hem lock— A s is the case in the adjoin ing toivnships, the Chemung-Catskill form a tions here predominate. The Hamilton beds arc too deeply buried to make profitable work ing here. The greatest elevation in this town ship is almost 1,000 feet above the sea. D erry— The Hamilton, Hclderberg and Che mung rocks arc here to be seen. A large quarry w as formerly operated near Washingtonvillc, the p r ^ u c t txin g lime and building stone. T he greatest elevation in this township is 900 feet above the sea. Lim estone— Limestone ridge, the southern boundary, is composed of the O riskany sand stones and the Heldcrbcrg limestones. Many limestone quarries were operated in this sec tion, getting their product from the Bossard ville and Storm ville beds.. T he greatest eleva tion is 780 feet, on Limestone ridge. /4 nthony— T his township w as once a vast valley f i ll^ with a mighty stream, remains o f whose action are shown in the boulder heaps that strew the surface. The only rocks that here appear above the horizon are the H am il ton and Chemung. In the highlands of the north the greatest elevation is 1,200 feet. M ayberry— The formations in this township arc o f sim ilar character to those in Franklin township. Columbia county, adjoining. No quarries have been opened here, although the rocks have been used fo r building purposes locally. Sharp ridge, running through the center of the township, is about 300 feet above sea level. T H E IKON INDUSTRY
T h e mineral productions o f Columbia county are o f considerable value and form one of the sources o f wealth for the people, but the yearly output is only a fraction o f that of the past. During the operation of the iron furnaces at Bloomsburg and other points the production o f this metal w as the mo.st important business in the county. A ll of the ore came from the sides o f Montour ridge and w as o f a fossiliferous character. N ear the surface the ore w as like loose soil, but below the layers became harder
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and filled with limestone and many fossils. Below (he fossiliferous horizon the ore is poor and the cost o f working it prohibitive. F o r this reason the mines o f llic county were gradually abandoned as fast as tlic upper layers o f ore became exhausted. The discovery o f iron ore in Columbia county w as made in 1822 by Robert Green, a farm laborer employed by H e n ^ Young o f Hem lock township, while plowing a field near the end o f Montour ridge, on the bank o f Fishing crcck. H e opened a d rift and demonstrated the value of the vein. F o r twenty years this ore w as mined and transported to the Esther and Penn furnaces, across the Susquclunna. Columbia County Furnaces B efore the discovery o f ore in the northern >art o f tiie county the Catawissa furnace was milt in Main township on Furnace run, near Catawissa creek, by John Hauck, in 18 15 . H e had the advantage o f proxim ity to the road to Reading and abundant wood for chaKoal. The ore w as at first procured from the neighbor hood o f Bloomsburg, but a fte r the discovery of the deposits in Hemlock township most of the raw material came from the latter source. F o r several years this w as the only furnace in the county. T he product was sent to Read ing to be forged and the finished iron returned for home consumption. T his w as changed by (he construction in 1824 o f a fo ^ e near the fu r nace by H arley & Evans and the double han dling done aw ay with. Both furnace and forge were oixratcd until 1883, when the distance from the mines and the cost o f fuel caused their abandonment. T he introduction of the anthracite process o f smelting also made the furnace obsolete, as it w as of the old charcoal, hot-blast design. A crumbling wall, overgrown with bushes, now marks the site o f this once fam ous iron works. The grading of the stage road to Reading through Ix x u st township m 18 17 caused the construction of the Esther furnace by Michael and Samuel Bittlcr. It was located on land originally patented to Samuel Shakespeare in >773 . on R a irin g creek, nineteen miles from Fort Augusta (now Sunbury). David Shake speare inherited the land and his executors deeded it to Jacob Yocum, from whom it passed to the Bittlcr family. There was neither iron nor limestone near, but an abundance o f wood. Most of the ore came from the Fishing creek region after the opening of the mines there. A fte r various en largements the furnace w as teased successively
