Monroe. - Area, 600 square miles; population in 1880, 20,175.
The north-western third of this county is a wilderness of Catskill upper
rocks (IX) with low knobs and ridges of Pocono sandstone (X) everywhere
2,000` to 2,200 A.T. drained westward by the Tobyhanna waters into the
Lehigh river. Two steep escarpments 1,000` high, front east and south,
and the angle where they meet is called the Pocono knob, looking down
and across to the Kittanning mountain, which is the southern boundary.
The five north-eastern townships cover a rolling-hill country of the
Catskill middle and lower strata, a belt of which forms also the foot
hills of the Pocono in northern Jackson, Chestnut Hill, and Polk townships
to the Carbon county line. Chemung, Genessee, Hamilton, and Marcellus
outcrops cross the county from east to west, a length of 30 miles, the
first three as hills, the last one as a valley of erosion, bordered
on the south by a continuous but zig-zagged ridge of the Oriskany sandstone
No. VII, backed by Upper Helderberg strata (VIII) on its north slope,
and letting out from its south slope the edges of the Lower Helderberg
limestone, lime shales, and cement beds No. VI. A deep valley of Clinton
red shale No. V separates it from the Kittanning Mountain with its sharp
crest of Medina sandstone No. IV, everywhere about 1,500` A.T. In this
red-shale valley the Delaware river flows until it turns into its Water
Gap (where Cherry run flows to meet it); and also the Aquanchicola creek
from the Wind gap westward into Carbon county. Across all these outcrops
flow southward from the foot of the escarpment the two principal streams
of the county, the Bushkill along its eastern border, and Brodhead creek
(with its main branches, Goose pond, Stony, and Holler runs, Pocono
and St Michael’s creeks, which last two meet it at Stroudsburg, and
the combined waters cut a romantic little gorge through the Oriskany
ridge into the bend of the Delaware. Marshall’s creek makes a longer
cut, where the Oriskany is broadened out by several rolls, and here
are the picturesque Buttermilk Falls. The high falls of the Bushkill
are over Hamilton sandstone strata. Several anticlinal rock waves issue
from the Kittatinny Mountain and traverse the county (zig-zagging the
outcrops) from east to west. The first one crosses the Delaware just
below Walpack bend, broadens the Oriskany east of Stroudsburg, doubles
the Marcellus there, and keeps on to the north-west corner of Polk.
The second one crosses the Delaware in the Water Gap, makes the Red
Hill, and the limestone hook at Kellersburg, and keeps on in Hamilton
rocks past Brodheadsville, Kriegesville, to become the great arch on
the Lehigh at Weissport. The third, is a short one running under Mechanicsville.
The fourth comes through the mountain at the Offset and dies away in
front of the Wind Gap, swelling the Oriskany ridge so that it is called
locally Dodendorf’s mountain. (For details of the geology see Report
G6, with which are published a contour line map of the Water
Gap and a measured section of its strata.) The Mt. Pleasant conglomerate
caps knobs along the northern line of the county, one of which near
the railroad in Coolbaugh township (2050` A.T.) shows it in cliffs of
50`. The Pocono plateau is made of Mt. Pleasant red shales perhaps
200` thick; and the underlying Elk Mountain green sandstones and
shales, say 200` thick. The next underlying Cherry Ridge conglomerate,
upper 30`, shale 20`, lower 25`, form the cliffs which run
along the top of the great escarpment; the upper one with quartz pebbles
as large as fish eggs, and fish remains; the lower one with rather smaller
pebbles, and more fish remains, and more lime in its cement. Under it
appear red sandy shales, say 250`, increasing westward to perhaps 500`
at the Carbon county line. Under these lie the two massive Honesdale
sandstones, with large pebbles in a calcareous cement, separated
by red shale, and measuring 200` in the Pocono Knob, 500` on the Carbon
line, and 1000` on the Lehigh river. Under this the Montrose red
shale, at least 600` thick at Henryville on Brodhead’s creek, and
swelling to 1200` on its way through Pocono, Jackson, Chestnut Hill,
and Polk townships makes a broad red soil belt. Under it the Delaware
flagstone quarry-beds, 1430` thick in eastern Pike, are 1200`
in Monroe on Brodhead’s creek between Henryville and the first bridge;
they range east and west across the county, affording unlimited scope
for this special industry; near the top of the group comes the Lackawaxen
conglomerate. Underneath lies the New Milford red shale,
100` at Spragueville, 500` at Broadheadville; and a patch of it is left
in the Wire Hill synclinal on the Eldred-Ross township line. Underneath
lies the Starrucca sandstone (with red beds) 600` thick at Spraguqville
and a mile above Bartonville. (All the above Catskill groups sum up
5000`.) The Chemung beds measuring 1750` of gray and blue, hard,
fossiliferous sandstone along Brodhead’s creek, make the ridge just
below Spragueville. The Genessee dark sandy shales (200`) make
a little narrow valley. The Hamilton sandstone (1200`) has the
Tully limestone coral rock at its top (best seen 30` thick at
the head of the falls on Middle Bushkill creek, 1 ½ miles above its
junction with the Bushkill; and also a mile north of Kresgeville); forms
the cliffs of the Delaware at the Munroe-Pike line; and the whole series
of beautiful cascades in the ravines of both counties; fossils numerous,
but no useful minerals. The Marcellus soft dark shales 500`,
and gray shales 300`, form the valley of Pond Creek in Smithfield, and
Prince’s Creek in Eldred and Lower Towamensing; people have often tried
to find coal in the black slate, in this and many other counties of
the State (see Perry and Juniata,) as at Bonser’s on Frantz’s creek
near the western line of Ross township, and at Kunkletown in Eldred.
The so-called "iron ore" with this black slate (manufactured into paint)
is the same as that mined in Mifflin County. School slates have also
been quarried in the west Polk Township line. Fossils (poor) are plentiful
at the base of the slate at Stroudsburg. The Corniferous limestone
200`, Cauda-galli grit 250`, Oriskany sandstone 50`, Stormville
lime shales 150`, massive cherty limestone 10`, conglomerate 15`, lower
limestone 75`, Waterlime (Peth stone) 5`, Dicker’s Ferry
limestone 20`, pebbly sandstone 15`, greenish shales 15`, Bossardville
limestone (the main quarry beds of the county are in this) 90`,
and the Poxono Island shale 200`, run across the county as Godfrey’s
Ridge. (See descriptions of fossils and quarries in G6.)
The Clinton red shale is say 900`; the Medina 700`, the
Oneida 800`. Thus the Brodhead’s creek section shows 13,495`
of rocks in Monroe county. The Terminal Moraine crosses the Blue
(Kittatinny) mountain crest just west of Fox gap, slopes down to Poponoming
lake, bends round Wire ridge to Brodheadsville, runs past Lake Minneola
up the west bank of McMichael’s creek, bends east and ascends to Pocono
Knob, runs north over the plateau (2000` A.T.) to S.E. corner of Tobyhanna
township, and then with a sharp turn runs straight west (as the Long
Ridge) across the outlet of Long Lake, and between Big and Moses ponds
to Sailorsville and the Lehigh River. The whole surface of Monroe, east
and north of this well-defined ridge of sand, clay, gravel, and bowlders
(50` to 150` high, and ¼ to ¾ mile wide) has been once covered with
ice, one or two thousand feet thick, moving south south-westward on
the highlands, and south-westward over the lowlands and Blue mountain
onto Northampton county; and the ice on its retreat not only left the
ridge of trash which it formed along its extreme front edge, but left
the whole country clad in a sheet of clay, sand, rough gravel, and scratched
blocks of native and foreign rocks of all kinds, averaging 50` in depth,
and much deeper in the valleys. All the lakes and ponds of the county
have been made by irregular dams and pot-holes of Drift. (See full details
in Report Z.)
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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