Fulton. - Area, 440 square miles; population in 1880,
10,149. The two principal features of the county are the McConnellsburg
limestone cove lying along its eastern border, and the Broad Top coal
field which occupies about 8 square miles of its north-west corner,
at an elevation of 2000 feet above tide, and surrounded by a deep
red shale valley (XI). This again is surrounded by Sideling hill,
which is prolonged southward to the Maryland State line, but sends
out a long prong south-westward called Town hill. These mountains
are outcrops of Pocono sandstone, No.X, and contain a number of worthless
little coal beds. The workable coal beds are on the Broad Top. Through
the middle of the county passes a broad belt of Catskill (IX) and
Chemung and Hamilton (VIII) rocks, containing no minerals of value.
At the northern line is a loop of Oriskany sandstone (VII) and Lower
Helderberg limestone (VI) inclosing a Clinton red shale valley with
some fossil iron ore circling round the south end of Black-Log Mountain.
At the Maryland line there is an exactly similar loop, twice as long
(8 ½ miles) in which flows Pigeon creek. Between the two loops lies
a curious trough of higher rocks (IX, X, XI) making the mountain 13
miles long and 2 wide, with a double crest and little inclosed valley,
over the northern point of which runs the Bedford turnpike. The McConnellsburg
cove is floored with the limestone II, and walled in by a mountain
of slate (III) with a crest of Medina sandstone (IV), all round except
on the western side. Here runs the most remarkable fault in the State,
the west-dipping limestones of the cove being cut off and dropped
about 8000 feet, so that at the present surface No.II and No.VIII
are in contact. The limestone floor of the cove is 2 miles wide and
13 miles long, pointed at the north and south ends. A little iron
ore has been found in it. Fossil ore outcrops come up out of the fault
and run northward into Huntington county and southward along Licking
creek into Maryland. The whole surface of the county is most picturesquely
broken; and charming mountain and valley scenery can be enjoyed from
many points of view, especially along the turnpike from Saluvia past
McIlvaine’s tavern over into Bedford County. Thin veins of sulphate
of baryta, cutting the shales of No. VI, have been mined near
Fort Littleton for paint stuff. (See Report T2.)
From: A geological hand atlas of the sixty-seven
counties of Pennsylvania :embodying the results of the field work
of the survey, from 1874 to 1884. By J. P. Lesley. (Report of
progress (Geological Survey of Pennsylvania), v. X ) Harrisburg, PA
: Board of commissioners for the second geological survey, 1885.
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