CHAPTER XIII.

Physical Features.

Orange is in the Piedmont belt, about twenty-five to thirty miles from the foot of the Blue Ridge. The mean distance from Washington and Richmond is 85 miles, from tidewater at Fredericksburg, 40 miles.

The County is almost bisected by the South West Mountains, so called because their trend is northeast and southwest. They constitute the main water shed, though by reason of their many convolutions there are variations. Generally speaking, the waters northward of the mountains flow to the Rapidan, those southward to the North Anna; yet towards Gordonsville, north of the mountains, some streams flow into the South Anna. At Gordonsville, Main street is a watershed, the waters on one side flowing into the North Anna, on the other into the South Anna.

A few small streams northwest of Barboursville fall into the Rivanna, and thence into the James. With this exception the waters ultimately reach the Rappahannock and the York. The very head spring of the York is on the Johnson farm, near the crest of the mountains where the Barboursville pike crosses.

The principal streams are the Rapidan (formerly Rapid Anne, and so named by Governor Spotswood),

the North Anna, the Pamunkey, the local name for the north fork of the North Anna, Blue Run, Mountain Run, Negro Run, and Wilderness Run. Black Walnut Run is a name identified with the earliest history of the County.

The chief elevations are Clarke's Mountain, about eight miles east of the courthouse, where a signal station was maintained during the war, elevation above tide (according to United States Geological survey, from which all following elevations are taken), 1,100 feet; Quarles's Mountain, two miles east of courthouse, 700 feet; Scott's Mountain, near Madison Run, 1,100 feet; Merry's Mountain, named for Prettyman Merry, prominent citizen during the Revolution, 1,200 feet; Watts's Mountain, in front of Frascati, 1,200 feet; Newman's Mountain, near Montpelier, 800 feet; and Hardwicke's Mountain, a few miles northeast of Barboursville, 900 feet.

The elevation of Gordonsville, according to the profile of the Cheseapeake and Ohio Railroad, is 500 feet, which is 51 feet higher than Charlottesville.

A vein of limestone, so narrow that it is called "the string," runs through the County from Gordonsville to the Rapidan, following the Southern Railroad to Madison Run where it diverges to the right, crossing Church Run at the Taylor farm, thence down through "Hawfield," and on to the river. In former years much lime was burned, both for domestic and agricultural uses, but it was found to be of little value in agriculture.

Professor William B. Rogers, in his "Geology of Virginia," gives the following analyses, the names of present owners being substituted:

Limestone from Col. W. H. Chapman's farm (formerly Colby Cowherd's), one and one-half miles from Gordonsville.

Carbonate of lime...

Carbonate of magnesia-trace

Silica......

79.20

.19.60

Limestone from Gibson's quarry (present owner unknown) south

Limestone from Rawlings quarry—near old Zion Meeting house, two miles from Courthouse (present owner Bowers).

Limestone from Todd's quarry-near Madison Run (known as

In each of these analyses small quantities of alumina and oxide of iron, and water, are noted; too inconsiderable to be enumerated here.

Payne Todd, stepson of President Madison, wasted much money in an effort to develop a marble quarry, which still remains an object of interest, but has long been full of water and become a local" fishing hole."* Beautiful marble was obtained from it, but veined with a very hard quartz so destructive to tools that it was found to be impracticable to work it. Some handsome mantels, still extant, have been made from it.

*In 1840 the Legislature incorporated "The Montpeller Marble Company" to quary 'marble, porphyry agate, flagstones for paving and slate for roofing houses in the County of Orange." Todd was the only incorporator. Capital stock not less than $20,000, nor more than $200 000.

In the Marsh Run neighborhood, and extending from a point near the Rapidan to the Greene corner on the Barboursville turnpike, is a range of hills known as the Blue Hills. Underneath these, at varying depths, is a stratum of plumbago or graphite. So far no merchantable quality has been obtained, but a company has been lately formed with a view of exploiting the mineral resources of these hills.

On the divide between the mountain section and the grey land are to be found many fine quarries of a composite stone, mainly sandstone, finely adapted for building purposes.

There are several mineral springs and wells in the County, and great medicinal virtues are locally attributed to some of them.

A noble spring on the old "Willis Grove" farm, the part owned by the late Philip B. Jones, Jr., now the property of Mr. Egbert Leigh, is perhaps the most notable. There is a tradition, which the writer knows to be approximately true, that two old ladies lived near this spring to the ages of 110 and 120 years, respectively, and that both enjoyed extraordinary health during all that time.

There is a mineral well at Mugler's station; a wellknown chalybeate spring near the old turnpike near the Spotsylvania line; and several driven wells at Gordonsville are alleged to be strongly impregnated with lithia. "Mineral Hill" near Barboursville, long owned by Mr. James Barbour Newman, though not his residence, has long been celebrated for the virtues of a spring from which the place takes its name; and there are "sulphur pumps" both at Gordonsville and the Courthouse.

The general character of the water, however, outside of the narrow limestone belt, is pure freestone, and with rare exceptions of most excellent quality, though in the red land district many of the springs become tinged with the color of the soil in long wet spells. The number of springs is something wonderful, and no county in the State is better watered, so that having to drive stock any distance to water is unheard of.

There are large deposits of iron ore, which have been worked from time to time, and which were considered so valuable once that several miles of railroad were built to convey the ores to market. It was found out that they contained too much phosphorus to compete with the better classes of ore, and the industry has been abandoned. These deposits lie mainly along the verge of the limestone belt.

Also there are gold mines in the lower part of the County, the "Vaucluse" mine being, perhaps, the best known.

Professor Rogers says: "In Spotsylvania and the adjacent counties, Orange, Louisa, Fluvanna and Buckingham, numerous veins of auriferous rocks have been wrought for some time, from many of which rich returns have been procured, and under improved modes of operation a still larger profit may be expected."

He is the highest authority on the geology of Virginia, but as the improved methods of operating the mines have not yet been tried his forecast remains only a forecast.

Mr. James Barbour Newman, who lived one mile east of Barboursville, and died, universally regretted at the great age of ninety-seven years, kept a very careful