Monroe County: Land of Sinks
Monroe County is a rich, agriculturally blessed county with fine apple orchards, wineries, trout water, historic springs, farmland, and saltpetre (saltpeter)caves. Since settler times it has been called "the land of sinks" for its many sinkholes. One community is called Sinks Grove because of this terrain. It contains the Second Creek Watershed, which is maintained by Friends of THE Second Creek Watershed. The birthplace of American Paleontology began in the late 18th-century with the discovery of the Megalonyx Jeffersonii (Thomas Jefferson's Three-toed Sloth) in its Haynes Cave. Haynes Cave is believed to be approximately 2 to 5 million years old. Monroe County has the USGS station on its side of the town of Alderson, West Virginia, where the public gleans much useful data about temperature, pH, flow, and dissolved oxygen. Much work has been launched in efforts to study the karstic hydrology of this county. Recently the entire Second Creek Watershed was designated an historic watershed by the state of West Virginia.
Read more about this topic: Greenbrier River Watershed Association
Famous quotes containing the words monroe, land and/or sinks:
“Fame will go by and, so long, I’ve had you, fame. If it goes by, I’ve always known it was fickle. So at least it’s something I experienced, but that’s not where I live.”
—Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962)
“Whilst all the land was ringed with bristling arms
And flames laid waste our world,
All that was left me was a little garden
And thou within it, my beloved, my comrade.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“Any man today who returns from work, sinks into a chair, and calls for his pipe is a man with an appetite for danger.”
—Bill Cosby (20th century)