Iron Ores
With the exception of the Ames Limestone, each of the six strata mentioned in the foregoing, carries with it an iron ore. In fact iron often substitutes itself for the lime. There are, however, some other seams of iron ore in the county, since we have not less than fourteen well recognized strata. The first one we find in the scale is at Maxville, where it lies over the Sub-carboniferous Lime. The same stratum can be found in the same relative posi- tion in Reading and Madison townships. This ore is known as the Maxville Block. Lying about fifteen feet below the Zoar Limestone is found the Lower Main Block Ore. This was mined extensively at Junction City. Just over the Zoar Limestone is a seam that is always present but at times so thin that it is not work- able. It is the most widely distributed ore of the Hanging Rock District. Its name is the Main Block Ore. About thirty feet above the latter can be found a valueless vein in the most of our hills. It is sometimes called the Rough Block Ore. From ten to twenty feet above the last named, an- other Block Ore occurs. It is carried by the Gore Limestone, an accessory of the Zoar. We find this seam in the extreme south of the county. At Mc- Cuneville the lime with it is almost an ore in itself, since it contains twenty per cent metallic iron. Thirty feet higher in the scale, in the south of the county, is the vein that corresponds to the Putnam Hill Limestone at New Lexington. At the latter place25
about ten feet below the Lime is a kidney ore which is its accessory. The next vein is the Limestone Kidney Ore. It can be found at McCuneville in connection with a lime, whence its name. The most important of all our ores comes next. It rests upon the Hanging Rock Limestone. It is bet- ter known, however, as the Baird Ore. It was the one most generally used, since at one time, more than sixty furnaces in southern Ohio utilized it. Above this is the Black Kidney which is not always present. It occurs in patches and is of little value in our county. Passing above the Great Coal Seam and closely connected with the Norris Lime is an ore by the same name. Thirty feet in ascent brings us to the ore invested with the Shawnee Limestone. It has been mined extensively at New Straitsville, and has received its name therefrom. The Sour Apple Ore received a Perry County ap- pellation because of the presence of an apple tree near its outcrop in the neighborhood of Moxahala. It was laden with luscious looking fruit, but the members of the Geological Survey were somewhat disappointed when they tested it. The greatest of all our ore deposits is the one that lies about one hundred and fifteen feey above the Great Coal Seam. Its general name is the Black Band. It is locally named the Iron Point or the Bowman Hill Ore. It was mined at Bristol, Moxahala, and also on the Hone farm east of New Lexington. Its aver- age thickness was found to be from three to five feet.26
In many places it showed a frontage of seven and eight feet. There are a few unimportant strata in connection with the Cambridge Lime. They are for the most part valueless in our county.27