Sandusky County, Ohio - Economic Geology, 1909

Stone And Lime

The Trenton and the Clinton Rocks in Sandusky County - The Trenton the Only Oil Rock - Both Trenton and Clinton Produce Some Gas - Record of Gas Wells - The Fremont Gas W ell - Other Gas Wells - The Township's Gas and Oil - Big Oil Producing Wells - The Kirkbride Gusher - Present Number of Paying Wells.

The Trenton Limestone is not only the most important source of oil in Sandusky County and in Ohio, but probably is not excelled by any single formation in the world. It forms the floor, so to speak, of the entire state, being found wherever the drill penetrates to a suffcient depth. . It outcrops only in one locality, namely ; along the Ohio River in the southwestern corner of the state, but farther south, in Kentucky, it is the surface rock over a large area, and is the basis of the famous soils of the blue grass region.

This rock is often highly fossiliferous and occasionally the pieces brought up by the sand pump are little more than a cemented mass of shells.

The relation stratigraphically of the Trenton to the Clinton is shown in the record of a well at Rollersville, Sandusky County, from which it appears that through the Niagara series to the Clinton was 393 feet and through the Clinton, Medina shales, Cincinnati series and Attica shale, 85214, and reaching the Trenton at 1.252% feet. For comparison a record of a well drilled at Fremont is here given which is as follows: the Trenton produce gas; neither at present furnishes it in commercial quantities. The Trenton gas produced is used mainly for fuel in pumping oil, and that of the Clinton for domestic use on the premises where found. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT. Probably no other event in the history of central and northwestern Ohio has so stimulated the search for underground wealth as did the discovery of natural gas at Findlay in 1884. It was natural that Sandusky County, lying as it does, just east of Wood and northeast of Hancock, should be stimulated by the great discoveries made to the west and south. Fremont led the way, reaching the Trenton, rock July 8, 1885, at a depth of 1,328 feet, as the record of the well before mentioned showed. Gas was liberated at several horizons, especially at the Clinton, but there was little or no addition to the flow when the Trenton was reached, even after the latter had been torpedoed. Other experiments into the Trenton were made, but the results proved unsatisfactory. Finding gas in the Clinton formation and little or none in the Trenton, a number of shallow wells were drilled; but for commercial or manufacturing purposes these also proved unprofitable. However, quite a number of shallow wells were drilled in Fremont and elsewhere, and used on the premises where the wells were located. Such wells are still being drilled in western parts of the county, some of them with tolerably fair results, for home use.

Hodson River Shale----450

But for the last fifteen years and more drilling has been mainly done to the Trenton for oil exclusively. The principal producing oil territory lies in the western tier of townships extending eastward, into Washington, Jackson, Sandusky and Rice.

Woodville Township - Sections 8, 17, 18, 16,°20;"2F; 22,27, 25; 20) 30,31; 32) 335-34 and 35 produce oil. The first test was made in 1886. The Trenton was found at 1,184 feet, but without results. Two years later search was renewed for gas; and oil was found in paying quantities and the territory proved to be rich in oil.

Madison Township - This township has oil wells in every section excepting 15, 28 and 35. In 1887 a well was drilled at Gibsonburg for natural gas. The Trenton was struck at 1,237 feet, but flowed oil at the rate of fifty barrels per day. This is said to have been the first oil well drilled in Sandusky County. The first well drilled in this locality exclusively for oil was in 1888, which, after being shot, yielded 200 barrels per day. Progress has been uninterrupted since that early day and the territory is now well drilled.

Scott Township - All sections are productive in whole or in part except 2, 11, 12, 13 and 24. Real progress began in this township about 1890 and has gone steadily on until there is but little territory left to develop.

Washington Township - The Woodville and Madison oil territory extends into Washington, occupying in whole or in part Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, O, 16, Ty, 18; 19; '20; 21, 26,30; 3 32-and 33. Outside of this three smaller pools are found; one in the junction of Sections 23, 24, 25 and 26. In the southern part of the township a small pool of oil has been found and another just outside of Lindsey.

Rice Township - A small pool is found in Sections 5, 6, 7, 8 and 18, sometimes called the Kingsway pool. The wells are small, the largest production reported was 70 barrels per day. In July, 1902, the wells averaged about 14 barrels per day.

Jackson Township - Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, 19, 20, 30, 31 and 32 and a small area in Sections 2 and 3 are oil-producing territory, some gas wells are found in Sections 31 and 32; these supply Burgoon and Kansas.

Sandusky Township - This township was developed later than the others named and oil found in paying quantities in Sections 7, 8, 9, Io 17..16,,49, 20, 29 and 40:

Size of IV ells - By far the greater number of wells have been of ordinary size, that is, the initial production has ranged irom 25 to 100 barrels per day.

The great gusher of the field was struck on November 15, 1894, by T. E. & J. W. Kirkbride, on the Benjamin Jones farm, in Madison Township, four miles west and one mile south of Gibsonburg. This well is known as the second largest well completed on the continent and started at 20,000 barrels. For the first thirty days the well averaged a production of better than 7,000 barrels a day, and during its existence made its owners a fortune.

Limestone And Lime Industry

Sandusky County's geological structure is composed of alternating bands of Niagara and water lime formations, passing from north to south with a patch of corniferous in the eastern end. There are three bands or patches of the water lime. The Niagara patches are two in number and of considerable area; the corniferous cuts off a generous corner of the county, comprising about thirty square miles. Lime industry exist on quite a large scale in each formation. The Niagara area is exploited by quarries at Woodville and Gibsonburg.

Gottron Brothers - The quarries of Gottron Brothers at Fremont, Ohio, include the former Noble quarries and contain thirty-five acres of quarry land, and are operated extensively in the production of lime, foundation building stone and crushed stone for road and other purposes. From fifteen to thirty-five men are emploved. The plant is well equipped with up-todate machinery. The crusher capacity is 250 tons per day. The annual output in lime is 25,000 barrels; foundation stone about 10,000 tons and crushed stone about 20,000 tons. The composition is a good grade of dolomite.

The Bellvue Stone Company - The corniferous area, so called because of its numerous seams of horn stone, is represented by the quarry of the Bellvue Stone Company, just inside the Sandusky County line.

This company has been doing business about ten years, and was organized by W. M. Halliday, C. R. Callaghan, T. E. Wyant and Sol M. Wolf. No lime is produced, but the company makes a specialty of getting out crushed stone for macadamizing and concrete work; also some building stone for foundation purposes. The last year the company's output was about 3,000 carloads, consisting of about 2,400 carloads of crushed stone, 100 carloads of building stone, commonly called rubble, and about 500 carloads of heavy stone for government use in building a breakwater at Huron, Ohio. This breakwater stone runs from 100 pounds to ten tons, and is commonly known as quarry run.

The company owns about seventy-five acres of land, located in York Township at the corporation line of Bellvue, sixty acres being in the corporation, the balance adjoining it just outside. The business has been gradually developed from a small beginning until the output is up to 100,000 tons per year. The quarry is well equipped with modern machinery, consisting of crushers, screen, boiler and engine, air compresser, steam drills, locomotive crane, several miles of industrial track and has a sidetrack leading from the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad.

The Ohio & Western Lime Company at Gibsonburg is the corporated successor of The Standard Lime Company, and 1s of recent construction and one of the best plants in the state. It is the evolution of the various plants which have spent much money in the last few years experimenting in methods and economics in lime manufacture. This is believed to be one of the finest power plants to be found in any lime plant in the country. The home office is at Huntington, Indiana. The company owns eighty acres of land, about twenty-seven of which are immediately connected with the plant and being worked. Fifty men are employed, working ten hours, except those on gas producers, who work twelve hours. The average daily output is from seventy-five to eighty tons of lime. One yard of the stone weighs 2,600 pounds and produces about thirteen hundred pounds of pure lime. The crushers are not run to the full capacity, but the average output is ten carloads daily.

The National Mortar and Supply Company of Gibsonburg, with home office at Pittsburg, Pa., is a large concern. The plant was established in 1907, and employs sixty-five men, dividing time into two twelve-hour shifts. The machinery and equipments are of the latest and most approved character. The productions are lime, crushed stone for road-beds and stone for foundations. The plant turns out every twenty-four hours 100 tons of lime and 300 to 400 tons of crushed stone.

The Woodville White Lime Company - The plant of this company is one of recent development. 'The present management took hold of it six or seven years ago, and immediately began its reconstruction. The quality of the stone available had been well demonstrated, because this had been the site of small kilns for many years, which had been practically abandoned, not because of lack of material or its undesirable quality, but for lack of business aggressiveness. The present management has been aggressive in the wav of plant improvements as well as in the development of side lines such as dry mortars ready for use, special white coat, which had dolomite lime as a base and things of the sort. This firm was also one of the earlier producers of hydrated lime.