Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I, Part 16

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 930

USA > Pennsylvania > Indiana County > Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I > Part 16

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Several old banks have been opened on this coal in the southern part of the quadrangle, but measurements could not be made in them. Along Furriers run southwest of Evans hill there are two old openings, on the farms of Mrs. Douglas and William Lewis, where the coal is reported to range from 31/2 to 4 feet thick.

Along the flanks of the ravine of Yellow creek where it cuts through Chestnut Ridge there are several banks on this coal. At Fet- terman's, near Yellow creek, west of the road which passes just east of Moose and Strongs hills, the coal is said to measure 3 feet, 8 inches; and at Campbell's bank, at the head of the run in the bend of the road on the north side of Yellow creek south of Strongs hill, the coal is 4 feet thick. This also is the measurement in the bank on the east side of the road passing southward from the Indiana- Greenville pike to the Yellow creek ford, northwest of Moose hill.

Twoliek creek between Sample run and Ramsey run flows approximately parallel to the strike of the rocks, and in this interval several openings have been made on the Lower Kittanning coal.

Along the Indiana-Greenville pike near the Twolick creek bridge are two old openings on opposite sides of the stream, where this coal measures about 31/2 feet. Farther up the creek several old openings are passed before Lydick's, just above the mouth of Allen run, is reached.

On Penn run and its tributaries there are

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

several banks opened on the Lower Kittan-the Upper Freeport horizon. The lower of ning coal. At Green's, near the road extend- these has been exposed in an old bank on the ing northwestward from Greenville to Penn east side of Pine run near its mouth, and an- run, the coal measures 3 feet, 10 inches; and other bank which is thought to be on the same at Ackerson's, on the north fork of Penn run, coal has been opened near the roadside a mile one and a half miles due north of Greenville, this coal is mined and is said to vary from 3 feet, 10 inches to 4 feet, 3 inches.

Several other openings have been made on this coal in Twolick valley, in the eastern part of the quadrangle, but the banks are not be- ing worked and measurements in them could not be made.

The underground extension of the Lower Kittanning can be inferred from the records of only a few drill holes, but these indicate that the horizon is a persistent one. A drill hole near Graceton shows a thickness of 3 feet, 3 inches of this coal. The presence of a coal 1 foot, 4 inches thick at the base of the Allegheny formation is also shown by the drill at Graceton.

In Brush valley there is indication that coal and the Upper Freeport horizon is about one at least of the Kittanning coals is well 100 feet. There is no present evidence that developed. Thus far only two drill holes in this coal is continuous with that on Brush the valley have reached the lower coal horizon, run. and these did not penetrate the base of the

In Brush valley, on a hillside three quarters Allegheny formation. The records of these of a mile northwest of Rico, there is an old bank in which the coal is reported to be 31/2 feet thick and to overlie a bed of limestone. This outcrop seems to be of small extent, but it is interesting because of the clue furnished as to the depth of the Brush valley syncline. The relation of the coal and limestone, taken in connection with the records of a few drill holes in this valley, suggests that this coal may be referred to the Elk Lick horizon, which generally occurs somewhat over 300 feet above the Upper Freeport.

drills show the presence of a bed of coal about 170 feet below the Upper Freeport horizon. A further reason for expecting that these lower coals may be present in Brush valley is that along Blackliek creek at Vintondale, only a few miles from the Indiana quad- rangle, active coal mining in the Kittanning horizon is being carried on. The exact strati- graphie position of this Blackliek coal has not yet been determined, but diamond-drill sec- tions furnished by Mr. C. R. Claghorne show the general occurrence of two of the Lower Allegheny coals about 35 feet apart and measuring 2 feet, 6 inches and 4 feet.

COALS IN THE CONEMAUGH FORMATION

Records of diamond-drill holes show much variability in the number, position, and thick- ness of coal seams in the Conemaugh forma- tion. The number of coals present in a ver- tieal thickness of 300 feet above the Upper Freeport horizon varies from none to five. Generally these coals measure only a few inches. There are; however, at a few localities been established.

in this quadrangle, occurrences of Conemaugh coals of workable thickness. These areas are in the vicinity of Gaibleton, south of Onberg, and in Brush valley.

southeast of Gaibleton. This coal is reported to be about 2 feet thick, and it is estimated to he 60 feet above the Upper Freeport coal. The higher coal in the neighborhood of Gaible- ton is exposed in a few banks along Brush run and on the hills west of Rayne run. This coal is reported to be about 3 feet thick, and it is estimated to be 130 feet above the Upper Freeport.

On the headwaters of Crooked creek, be- tween Onberg and Ideal, there are also several banks opened on coal in the Conemaugh formation. It is reported that this coal averages about 3 feet in thickness. The coal clearly lies above the Mahoning sandstone, which is well developed toward Twolick creek. It is estimated that the interval between this

Another coal, reported to be 3 feet thick, occurs in Brush valley in an old opening on the west fork of Brush creek about one and a half miles southwest of Mechanicsburg. The best evidence available makes it probable that this coal is a little less than 200 feet above the Upper Freeport.

It is thought that the coal near water level at the old Oberdorff mill, about two hundred rods above the mouth of Brush creek, is the Upper Freeport. This coal is overlain by a massive sandstone and underlain by lime- stone, but absolute correlation has not yet

NATURAL GAS

Occurrence .- Natural gas has been suc-

About Gaibleton there are two coals above cessfully exploited in two localities within the

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Indiana quadrangle, about Creekside on

Stratigraphic Position of the Gas Sand .- Crooked creek and in the vicinity of Willet Gas iu paying quantity has been found at on the south branch of Plum creek. Wells only one geologic horizon within the Indiana have been drilled elsewhere, but, although gas has been reported from some of them, no wells within the quadrangle outside of the two areas named have produced gas in pay- ing quantities. Oil has not been found in the quadrangle.

General Relations .- The Creekside field is a small, isolated one, while the Plum creek area forms the northern end of a larger pro- ducing field known as the Willet field. It is interesting to note that these two gas fields lie among the most easterly in the entire pro- ducing area. East of Chestnut Ridge no im- portant occurrences of gas or oil have been found, the producing area being confined to the region of gently folded rocks that lies to the west of that ridge. Eastward the rocks have been too much folded and broken to favor the retention of whatever oil or gas they may have contained.

quadrangle, though some of the deep wells report the presence of a little gas at several horizons. The important gas sand in this region occurs about 1,100 feet below the Upper Freeport coal and about 400 feet above the top of the red beds previously described as marking the upper part of the Devonian system. These intervals are remarkably con- stant, varying only a few feet in all the records examined.

From the proximity of the fields and the constancy of the intervals between recogniz- able rock horizons it is probable that the same bed of sandstone carries the gas in both the Willet and the Creekside field, but with the present information it is impracticable to correlate this gas sand with that of other fields. While it is recognized that the fa- miliar names of gas sands used by the drillers constitute a serviceable terminology, it should be understood that the names indicate only approximate geologie position instead of actual identity of sandstones. The gas sand in the field under consideration has approxi- mately the position of the Murrysville sand.

Relation to Structure .- The relation be- tween the structure of the rocks and the occur- rence of gas and oil in the Appalachian field has long been recognized. By far the larg- est proportion of gas wells are located well up the flanks or along the axes of anticlines, Wiltet Field .- The gas-producing area of the Willet field within the Indiana quad- rangle is limited to a few square miles in the vicinity of Willet. Gas was discovered in this region in the Kelly No. 1 well in De- cember, 1890, and other wells were soon put down. In 1891 gas was piped to Indiana, which since that date has been supplied from the Willet field by the Indiana Gas Company, now the American Gas Company. Efforts tension of this producing area, but thus far while oil is associated with the flanks of syn- clines. These relations are explainable by supposing a natural distribution, according to gravity, of the liquids and gases which exist in the interstices formed by the loosely fitting rock particles. For instance, suppose a folded bed of sandstone to be permeated by gas, oil, and water; the heavier water would tend to seek the low-lying troughs of the synclines, while the lighter oil would ascend have been made to find a northeastern ex- the flanks of the synclines, and the still lighter gas would tend to seek the arches of the anticlines.

The occurrence of gas within the Indiana quadrangle is no exception, the wells in the vicinity of Willet being along the flank of the Roaring run antieline, while those of the Creekside field extend along the McKee run anticline. Two deep wells have been drilled on the west flank of the Chestnut Ridge anti- cline, the Phillips well, on Yellow creek one and a half miles northeast of Homer, and the Porterfield, on Twolick creek east of Indiana. While no important amounts of gas were obtained it is interesting to note that some gas was found in the extreme eastern locality and that gas now escapes from the Phillips well. No wells have been put down along the in this well had decreased to 100 pounds. One Richmond anticline within the quadrangle. of the best wells in the Plum creek field was

without success. To the southwest, however, there are a number of good wells, some of which contribute to the Indiana supply, while gas from other wells is piped to Pittsburg. Of the nine wells put down in this general vicinity within the Indiana quadrangle, six produce gas and three are failures. Thus far not one of the producing wells has been ex- hausted. No very systematic records have been kept of the pressure, but it is said that the Kelly No. 2 well, near the creek, not far from the northwestern edge of the quad- rangle, had a rock pressure of 275 pounds when the well was drilled in 1891 and a minute pressure of 125 pounds through a 55/s-inch casing. In 1901 the rock pressure

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

drilled in 1901 on Dutch run about four miles

Fire Clay .- Fire clay is clay that will re- southwest of the point where the south sist a high degree of heat. It is utilized in branch of Plum creek leaves the Indiana the manufacture of firebrick and other arti- quadrangle. This is the Boyer well, which is reported to have had a rock pressure of 350 pounds and a minute pressure of 245 pounds in a 614-inch casing.

The gas sand in the Willet field varies from 15 to 25 feet in thickness and is a uni- form, moderately compact, light-gray sand- stone, admirably adapted for the storage of gas.

Creekside Field .- The gas-producing area of the Creekside field, as now known, is lim- ited to about one square mile along Crooked creek, in the vicinity of Creekside. This pool was first struck in March, 1900, and in the fall of 1901 the wells came into the control of . the Indiana Gas Company and the gas was piped to Indiana. Seven wells have been sunk in this field. Four of these are re- ported to be good, or fairly good, and three are dry. Rock pressure in the best Creek- side well is reported to have been 325 pounds, and the minute pressure 105 pounds in a 4-inch casing.

BRICKMAKING MATERIAL

This is widely distributed in the Indiana quadrangle, but it has not received much at- tention. It consists of shale and fire clay. These are of sedimentary origin and are com- posed of fine-textured, more or less decom- posed rock fragments. These deposits occupy well-marked stratigraphie positions and often are persistent over considerable areas.

Shale .- Fine-textured and homogeneous deposits of shale are of widespread occurrence in both the Conemaugh and Allegheny for- mations and outerop over a large part of the area under discussion. These shales are not utilized except for the manufacture of build- ing and paving brick in the towns of Indiana. Clymer and Garfield. They seem to offer a field worthy of investigation. Homogeneous deposits of fine-textured. moderately fusible, and fairly plastie elay shales are valuable not only for the manufacture of building bricks. but for making paving bricks and for many other uses to which clay is applied. In con- junction with associated beds of limestone these shales also might be used in the manu- facture of cement.

eles for which clay is adapted. Valuable beds of fire clay are present in the Allegheny formation, the most famous being the Bolivar clay, which is extensively worked at Bolivar, on the Conemangh river. At the type locality it occurs from 10 to 20 feet below the Upper Freeport coal. Another valuable deposit of fire clay often occurs below the Lower Kit- tanning coal. This bed is extensively worked at New Brighton, near the mouth of the Beaver river.

In the Indiana quadrangle no attempts have been made to utilize fire clay. Diamond- drill records show several beds of fire clay in the Allegheny formation. An outerop of homogeneous, fine-textured, hard, drab fire clay, reported to be from 6 to 8 feet thick, was observed at the Bolivar horizon, on the property of J. S. Ralston, just south of the Indiana-Greenville road, near the summit of Chestnut Ridge. Other outcrops should he sought on the hill slopes of the Allegheny formation going down from the Upper Free-

The Creekside gas sand, while thought to port coal, likely horizons being a few feet be- belong to the same horizon as that in the low the Upper Freeport coal and below the Willet area, is of much coarser texture, being Lower Kittanning coal. sometimes conglomeratic.

SANDSTONE

Sandstone suitable for building purposes occurs in many localities within the Indiana quadrangle. The principal beds are the Con- nellsville, Morgantown, Saltsburg and Mahon- ing. of the Conemangh formation; the Free- port and Kittanning, of the Allegheny for- mation, and the Pottsville sandstone. No elaborate tests of these sandstones have been made, and but few stone buildings have been constructed within the area under consider- ation. A notable stone structure is the county courthouse at Indiana, which is said to be built of Mahoning sandstone.

The available sandstones are of a variety of colors and textures, varying from whitish and greenish, through buff. brown and red, and from soft and loose-textured to hard and com- pact rocks. They can be obtained in blocks of convenient size. which apparently can be easily dressed.

The Pottsville sandstone in several localities outside of this quadrangle is ernshed and used for making glass. In the area under con- sideration this rock is a pure sandstone, gen- erally free from iron stains. It occurs along Yellow creek adjacent to the Chestnut Ridge

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

anticline, on Twolick creek at the eastern edge anticline; the other six range in depth from of the quadrangle, and in a small area on 175 to 350 feet. Water in them is derived Allen run.

LIMESTONE

Thin beds of limestone which have been re- ferred to as occurring in both the Conemaugh and Allegheny formations are available for making lime for use as a fertilizer. The lime- stone most used is the Freeport deposit, which lies between the Upper and Lower Freeport coals. This limestone generally ranges from 2 to 6 feet in thickness and is found in a number of localities within the quadrangle. water-bearing horizon.

Limestone in connection with suitable deposits of shale is a possible source of crude material for the manufacture of cement.

WATER

The Indiana quadrangle is well supplied with water. A number of creeks and runs make flowing water widely accessible, springs are frequent, and water for domestic use is easily obtained from shallow wells.

Deep-seated underground water is also available. The different beds of sandstone re- ceive water at their outerops, and being perv- ious and commonly overlain and underlain by relatively impervious shales, the sandstones are saturated with water and constitute reser- voirs. Since there are several synclinal basins within the Indiana quadrangle artesian water thus becomes available. That is, if holes be sunk to water-bearing sandstones in proper places, water will rise in the holes to different heights, and sometimes to the surface, accord- ing to the artesian head. This artesian head is determined by the difference in height be- tween the elevation of the outerop of the sand- stone and its elevation in the well. Promising localities for artesian water are in synclinal areas where sandstone ontcrops along adjacent anticlines. In the basin of the Latrobe syn- cline west of Homer City, for instance, arte- sian water has been found in the Mahoning sandstone which outcrops on Chestnut Ridge. Large supplies of artesian water, however, should not be expected.

from both the Mahoning and Saltsburg sand- stones. In five of these wells the water is re- ported not to have risen above the horizon at which it was struck, but in two it rose 20 feet.

There are also three successful deep wells in use at the State normal school in Indiana. These were sunk from 190 to 210 feet below the surface. Some water is derived from the Saltsburg sandstone, but the main supply comes from the Mahoning. In these wells the water is reported to rise 120 feet above the

SOILS

Excepting the alluvium in creek bottoms the soils of the Indiana quadrangle are de- rived from the immediately underlying rocks. Being the products of the disintegration and decomposition of sandstones, shales and thin limestones, more or less mixed with the re- mains of animal and vegetable life, the soils of the area under consideration are mostly sandy and clay loams. The gently undulating topography of the greater part of the quad- rangle causes farming to be an important in- dustry, and with intelligent care the soils give profitable returns. Chestnut and Dias Ridges, however, are forest areas. Their steep slopes are strewn with sandstone blocks and the soil is lean and sandy.

ELDERS RIDGE QUADRANGLE

GEOGRAPHY-LOCATION AND AREA

The Elders Ridge quadrangle is located in central western Pennsylvania. It extends from latitude 40° 30' on the south to 40° 45' on the north, and from longitude 75° 15' on the east to 75° 30' on the west. It includes, therefore, one sixteenth of a square degree of the earth's surface, and covers an area of 227 square miles. It takes its name from a small village in its southern central part, in Indiana county, almost on the Armstrong- Indiana county line.

Seven wells were drilled in Indiana be- About half of the quadrangle is in Arm- strong county and half in Indiana county. The N. 36° E. line, which forms a portion of tween 1883 and 1891, from which the town was supplied with water. But in 1899 this source proved insufficient and recourse was had to the boundary between the two counties, ex- Twolick creek, which now supplies water of a tends from the upper right-hand corner of the much inferior quality. One of these wells quadrangle to the Kiskiminetas river in the was put down 3,300 feet in search of gas, hav- lower left-hand corner. The portion of the ing been located along the supposed Indiana quadrangle lying south of the river, about

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

five square miles in all, is a part of Westmore- land county.

TRIANGULATION POINTS

The exact location of the Elders Ridge quadrangle with reference to latitude and stamped with the letters "Pittsburg" in ad- longitude is determined from certain high dition to their figures of elevation.

points, the position of which has been ascer- tained accurately by triangulation. There are four triangulation stations within the boun- daries, and five near by, which give complete control of the quadrangle.

These stations are marked by stone posts, 6x6 or 8x8 inches in cross section, set about three feet in the ground. In the center of the top of each post is cemented a bronze tablet marked "U. S. Geological Survey-Pennsyl- vania." For the convenience of engineers making surface surveys the following descrip- tions of these stations are given.

Kunkle .- On land owned by Philip Kunkle ; about two miles north of Creekside post office, a few miles to the north.

near western end of a high ridge having scat- tering trees on the eastern end.

Broadview .- About two and a half miles north of Shelocta and a few rods east of the Armstrong-Indiana county line ; bare hill, with some timber on the southwest slope. The land is owned by John Russell.

Coleman .- In White township, about two miles northwest of Indiana, on a high hilltop, on land owned by D. Coleman.

Warner .- About three miles southwest of Indiana, in White township, on the highest part of a bare, round-top hill, on land owned by Mr. Warner.

Watt .- About one mile west of Tannery and one and three-quarters southeast of Park- wood post office, on the highest point of the western one of two hills of about the same height and one mile apart, on land owned by Thomas Watt.

Hood .- In Young township, about one mile east of Elders Ridge post office, on the highest point of a bare ronnd-top hill owned; by Calvin Hood.

Tabernacle .- About one and a half miles southeast of Clarksburg post office and about six miles by road northeast of Saltsburg, on tion of the Conemaugh and Loyalhanna at the highest part of a bare, cultivated, round- Saltsburg, about three miles south of the top hill owned by the heirs of S. W. Cole- border of the quadrangle The Kiskiminetas man.

BENCH MARKS

Precise-level lines have been run over the Elders Ridge quadrangle, and elevations are hased on and adjusted between bench marks

established by spirit leveling. All bench marks are referred to an aluminum tablet in the foundation of the "Seventh Avenue Hotel" at Pittsburg marked "738 Pittsburg 1899," the elevation of which is accepted as 738.384 feet above mean sea level, and are

TOPOGRAPHY

SURFACE RELIEF

The highest point in this quadrangle is Watt hill. in Armstrong township, Indiana county. Its top is 1.620 feet above sea level, or nearly 300 feet higher than the road cor- ners at Parkwood. The point of least eleva- tion is on the Kiskiminetas river below Sa- lina, where the level of the water is about 800 feet above tide. Crooked creek has nearly the same elevation where it leaves the quadrangle

Throughout this quadrangle the surface is hilly. For this reason roads find better grades along the valleys than on the higher land, al- though some highways on the divides have easy grades for several miles. Because a large portion of the surface of the region is underlain by the rocks of one formation-and they vary but little from place to place-there is not much change in the character of the surface relief.

DRAINAGE

The drainage system of this quadrangle is developed to the extent that streams penetrate all parts of the area. The main streams are still cutting rapidly and not building exten- sive flood plains. As is the case throughout much of western Pennsylvania, they are liable to floods, due to occasional heavy precipitation and to stripping of the former forest.

All the drainage is tributary to the Alle- gheny river. The streams are so small that none is navigable, even for rowboats, except on short stretches. The largest is the Kis- kiminetas river, which is formed by the junc- crosses the southwest corner, flowing due north for two miles, and then west at a right angle past Avanmore and Salina, about five and a half miles in all. It empties into the Alle- gheny near Freeport.

The main tributary of the Kiskiminetas in

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

the region under discussion is Blacklegs creek, southwest trend. In describing these folds which has its rise in the country about West the upward-bending arch is called an anticline and the downward-bending trough is called a syneline. The axis of a fold is that line which at every point occupies the highest Lebanon and Parkwood, and flows in a direct course to its mouth, one and three-quarters miles south of Edri, near the American Sheet Steel Company's plant. Big, Marshall, part of the anticline or the lowest part of the Hooper, Whisky and Harper runs are the syncline, and from which the strata dip in an principal branches of Blacklegs creek.

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Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I, Part 16

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 930

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 930