4   HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

hundredth part of that of the state, which means that it is thirty miles
less in area than the average county. It is four times the size of Ohio
county, which is the smallest in the state, and just a fraction more than
half the size of Allen, which is the largest county in the state.
    Clay county is a part of the elevated lands of the Wabash Valley.
The general surface of the county is neither level nor hilly, but undulated.
It is, therefore, not marked by any great topographical diversities and
contrasts. The most elevated point within the territory of the county,
with respect to the level of the ocean, is estimated at 800 feet; the lowest
at 533 feet. The approximate average elevation is 667 feet, 68 feet less
than that of the general average surface level of the, state, which is 735
feet. The maximum plateau elevation of the state, which is in Randolph
county, is 450 feet higher than that of Clay county, notwithstanding the
average difference of but 68 feet. With respect to the level of Lake Erie,
the extremes of the county are estimated at 227 feet above and 40 feet
below, an approximate average elevation of 133 feet.
    The mean surface level of the county lies 234 feet above low water
mark in the Wabash, at Terre Haute. The estimated elevation of the
Old Feeder Dam above the Wabash, at Terre Haute, is 122 feet, hence
the average elevation of the surface of the county above Eel river, at the
dam, is 112 feet. Eel river, at Bowling Green, is 75 feet above the door-
sill of the court-house at Terre Haute, and the bed of the old canal at
Birch creek feeder 63 1/2 feet above the bed of the canal at Terre Haute.
The bluff of Eel river on which stands the old court-house at Bowling
Green, is 160 feet above the site on which the court-house stands at
Terre Haute. The site of the present court-house at Brazil is 165 feet
above that of the court-house at Terre Haute. The greatest elevation
in the county is said to be in the extreme northeast corner, near the line
of the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad, between Calcutta and Lena,
and the lowest point in the extreme southeast corner, where Eel river
flows across the line into Owen county, near Johnstown. The highest
point in the county along the line of the Vandalia Railroad, is the Wools
Hill, near Newburg, which is the highest point between Greencastle and
Terre Haute. The altitude at the point of the Vandalia’s crossing the
Clay-Putnam line is 670 feet, at Eaglesfield’s 692 feet, and at Brazil 649
feet. In the central part of the county, the Grimes Hill, near Ashboro,
rises above all the surrounding contiguous country, the summit of which,
some years ago, was computed to be 80 feet above the ball on the spire
of the old court-house at Terre Haute. In the south part of the county.
the highest point is the Sand Hill, on which stands the old town of
Middlebury, the summit of which is 95 feet above the grade of the Evans-
ville & Indianapolis Railroad at Clay City. The observer on the roof
of the graded school-house at Middlebury is at an altitude of 125 feet
above the site of Clay City, though but one mile distant. The elevation
of the mouth of Eel river above the ocean level is 163 feet more than
that of the mouth of the Wabash.
    The surface of the county presents a variety of soil, from the deep,
black muck of the sloughs and marshes to the thin, gray and yellow clays
of the uplands. On the small openings, or prairies, the low surface is a
dark muck, and the high, a black sandy loam. The bottom land on the
margin of the streams is a rich clay loam, with a clay subsoil. These
loamy soils of the prairies and the first bottom are the most productive
lands of the county, yielding large crops of wheat and corn, vegetables