CAHABA COAL FIELD : HENRYELLEN BASIN. 21 
a point a little over a mile in a straight line below the 
mouth of the east fork of Cahaba river; the wagon road 
from Oaldwell’s Mill to Watkin’s Gap on Shades Mountain 
crosses the southwest boundary of the basin in section 26. 
A line commencing at the Alice furnaces in Birmingham, 
and run to the southeast, would cut off to the northeast, 
that portion of the Cahaba Coald Field embraced by the 
Henryellen basin ; said line would intersect the first coal 
seam at a distance from the Alice furnaces of four and a 
half miles ; continuing said line still further southeast, it 
would reach the southeast boundary of the Cahaba Coal 
Field (passing entirely over that portion of the field) ata 
distance of nine miles from the Alice furnaces. 
The boundary of the Henryellen basin may be described 
as follows: Starting from Birmingham with a due gouth- 
east course, the top of Red Mountain is reached at a dis- 
tance of one and a half miles; Shades creek is crossed at 
three and a half miles, and the base of the Millstone Grit 
reached at four and a half miles, at a point two-thirds of 
the way up Shades Mountain on its northwest side, about 
three hundred yards from the top of the mountain. The 
course is thence northeast along Shades Mountain (the base 
of the Millstone grit following along the northwest side of 
the mountain), with Shades creek meandering along the 
Valley to the left at a distance of from half a mile to a mile 
from the crest of Shades Mountain. After continuing along 
the mountain for three or four miles the ruins of the old 
Irondale furnace may be seen about half or three quarters 
of a mile to the left ; and beyond, still following along the 
Millstone Grit, the cut is soon reached ‘through which 
passes the Georgia Pacific and Columbus and Western 
railroads ; here the Brock seam may be seen exposed in the 
side of a ditch on the south side of the railroad. After 
passing this point, Shades Mountain acquires the name of 
Rocky Ridge, and is known as such by the settlers in its 
neighborhood all along to its end at the northeast corner of 
the Cahaba Coal Field, where it intersects the great south- 
east boundary fault and disappears. 
Leaving the railroad behind and continuing along the 
Rocky Ridge with the base of the Millstone Grit still close 
