History of Western Maryland. J. Thomas Scharf
times of heavy rain they carry down immense quantities of sediments, in conjunction with the washings from the hills, and spread them in layers over the flat lowlands. Thus the bottoms of these basins are rising year by year, and the best ingredients of the forest humus and the mineral soil are carried into these natural meadows, to feed the grasses and wild plants. The open spaces are covered deeply with the soft soil which has been poured upon them through untold ages, and in the dim, far-back past they formed a great chain of fresh-water lakes, which stretched from beyond the Pennsylvania boundary away down into Baltimore County. While these were pent up within their rigid bounds of earth and stone, broad marshes spread along the edges of the barrier of archaean mountains on the southeast that kept back the oceanic waters a few miles north of Baltimore. Later, the melting of the great ice mass, reaching through the broad, deep valleys farther north, sent such vast floods of water into the midst of these lakes that an opening was made at their southern end, through which the waters found an outlet into the lower levels farther south. Thus the surface features of this region have been toned down near to the proportions that appear to-day, the tops of the ridges have been broken away, and the summits of the softer spurs washed into the form of rounded domes.
The region in which Carrollton Post-Office is situated discloses a scene of uncommon wildness. There the branches of the Patapsco River pursue their course in bewildering complexity, bending and turning back at unexpected intervals, and seeming to be ever in the way of the traveler. They drain the country across a width of more than ten miles, and carry a large volume of water into the north branch of the river. The ridges here are narrow and abrupt, everywhere set with broken rocks, some of the ledges of which stand like huge piles of ruined masonry on the edges of precipitous heights. Viewed from a distant hill, these broken ridges and spurs produce an effect of grandeur and variety. They stand in broken series, which seem to fade into others at lower levels, while those at the end terminate in spurs, which taper off and become lost in the general surface of the flat valleys. Crowned with trees of every variety of green, they roll away into the distance like the broken caps of huge waves in a sea of boundless verdure. Proceeding northward and westward, valleys of larger size appear in view. These are usually long depressions between the higher hills, underlaid by limestone, with deep soil of the highest fertility, and well supplied with springs and rivulets in which the water is clear, pure, moderately hard, and delightfully refreshing to the taste. Baughman's Valley is one well known for the fine farms and well-kept homes of an industrious and thrifty people. All the cereals and crops of the most favored portions of the adjoining States grow here in excellence and abundance. Fruit-trees of various kinds grow with ease, and yield fine crops of the best quality, and the smaller fruits are grown with equal facility. Grazing is practiced to a large extent, and large quantities of produce, added to the butter and milk, are transported from thence to the Baltimore market. The soil on the hills is derived from the mica-slates and talcose rocks, which, being decomposed, yield a light and deep stratum, which readily admits of high cultivation.
Between Westminster and Union Bridge is the garden part of the county. Talcose schists form the higher hills, the country rolls away in broad, flattened domes, and the bottoms and ravines are always traversed by streams of spring-water. The hills are to a great extent cleared of woodland, and large farms spread over uplands which are as carefully tilled as the meadows below. Limestone ledges project from the sides of the hills, and yield inexhaustible supplies of the richest fertilizing lime.
The country between Little and Big Pipe Creeks, and northwest of the latter, in which Middleburg and Taneytown are situated, forms a strong contrast to all the preceding districts. It rests upon and is derived from the new red sandstone rocks. The latter jut out in picturesque variety along the banks of the streams just mentioned, and lie scattered in indescribable confusion down the ravines through which they flow. Heavy rains and freshets grind these rocks into fine mud, which marks a trail wherever the floods carry the waters, and which stains the streams for many hours after they have subsided.
These sandstones, being soft and easily acted upon by the atmosphere, have been extensively denuded by moving water, consequently much rather flat country occurs where formerly the high domes uplifted their summits. The hills now generally appear low, wide, and separated by shallow bottoms. But along the Little Bear branch and on the upper sections of the Big Pipe Creek the hills are mixed with talcose slates, remain much more elevated, and furnish valuable water-powers from their more abrupt flanks. Taneytown occupies the center of a tract about six miles square, based upon a red sandstone, somewhat mixed with slate. The resulting soil is thin, sandy, and sour, but little valued, and which has commanded relatively but a low price in the market. Careful limeing has, however, worked wonders with some of these depauperated lands, and brought them back to their original flourishing condition.
Limestone and Marbles. — These are so valuable, occur in such vast quantities and in so many places west of Parr's Ridge that they demand more than a passing notice in this place. Beginning with the section a little northwest of Manchester, they continue southwest towards the Frederick County line, and across it to a short distance below New Market. At first they seem to occupy but a narrow belt of country, but gradually widen, until, near the line of the Western Maryland Railroad, they stretch over more than one half the width of the county. Within this range an extraordinary number of varieties may be found. Every color between plain white and black veined with white occurs. Most of them are stratified, while a very few are so much contorted as to hide all trace of their type of deposition. In general they are very fine-grained, of close texture, strong, durable, and susceptible of a very high polish. Samples taken from the exposed surfaces of beds in about fifty localities have shown what a great treasure Carroll County possesses in these remarkable deposits. The weathered superficial parts of the beds form good stones for burning, and when these are cleared away to a depth of a few feet, varying according to the situation, new, clean surfaces of the massive marble are reached, suitable for dressing, trimming, and decorating buildings. On the western outskirts of Westminster large and deep quarries of limestone have been opened and worked to great advantage. Here they form the flanks of prominent hills, and are accessible for twenty-five or more feet above the level of the ground. These are much cracked and jointed, and probably do not yield large slabs or long monoliths, but they are very prettily veined and variegated with black or . red through the white body, and take a polish sufficiently good for out-of-door work. Some of these have been used for doorsteps in the city of Baltimore, and they have proved both acceptable and durable. But it is chiefly as a fertilizer that these are most highly prized. Vast quantities have been broken into small blocks and transported in that form to great distances, or have been calcined in the kilns near at hand and shipped in the condition of lime. It is, however, a few miles farther west that the marbles are found in their finest and richest development. In the region around Avondale and in the vicinity of New Windsor the beds of marble seem to vie with each other in putting on their most splendid dress. Several quarries of wine-red rock, exceedingly close and fine-grained, capable of a very high polish, marked with veins or wavy lines of either black or white, resting on massive layers of great extent, invite the builder to employ that which in point of beauty and fineness is one of the most admired of building stones. About three-quarters of a mile north of Avondale, and in the same beautiful valley, a quarry of the deep rich red marble has been opened and excavated below the surface of the ground. It forms a large and very compact bed, of remarkably uniform texture. Blasting the surface has shattered and cleft much of the exposed upper part, but from the general appearance and disposition of the mass it seems capable of yielding very large monoliths, and might also be worked into slabs of almost any desired size. This bed seems to be more uniform in color than most of the others. Its ground tint is of the richest wine-red, toning in a few points to almost madder purple. It takes an exceedingly fine polish, and is admirably adapted for pedestals, altar bases, mosaic pavements, and for the most elegant decorations of churches and palatial residences. Another quarry, belonging to this same belt of rock, and only a few rods distant from the former, yields a bluish-purple or mauve-purple marble of similar character and quality. It takes a surface as fine as glass, and is varied by veins and wavy lines of brown, gray, or black. Large blocks can be easily secured, and it deserves to be held in high esteem for the richness and purity of its combinations of color.
From this point to New Windsor many other beds of marble occur, chiefly of white, streaked, veined, or spotted with some tint of gray, pink, red, or purple.