CHAPTER UL 
THE ACTON BASIN. 
The Acton Basin at its northeast boundary joins the Hen- 
ryellen basin, and on its southwest boundary joins the 
Helena basin and the Cahaba basin. 
The principal wagon roads in this basin are the following : 
the road along Possum Valley (part of it is a settlement 
road), and the Birmingham road that leaves the Cahaba 
Valley road at Bishop’s Mill and the Wilson place, crossing 
the Cahaba river at the Bain Ford, passing through the 
Mat Patton place, by Mrs. Bailey’s house, where the meas- 
ures form a synclinal, and crossing Shades Mountain about 
two and half miles northeast of Oxmoor, thence on to Bir- 
mingham. Another road leaves the Possum Valley road at 
William Roy’s place, crossing the Cahaba river at the Hub- 
bard Ford, thence on to the top of Shades Mountain, and 
passing down its northwest side to Oxmoor, thence on to 
Elyton and Birmingham. Another wagon road leaves the 
Cahaba Valley road a half a mile above Isaac Johnson’s 
house, going almost due north by Caldwell’s mill and Wat- 
kin’s Gap to Birmingham. 
The area of the Acton Basin is forty two square miles. 
It is drained by the Cahaba River and its tributaries ; Pat- 
ton’s creek and its various prongs on the west side of basin, 
and by Acton’s Mill Creek, Coal Branch and other short 
branches emptying into the Cahaba River on the southeast 
side of basin. 
This basin is not a simple synclinal ; but consists of two 
synclinals with an anticlinal between in its northern end 
(opposite Oxmoor) ; the result being a widening of the basin 
at this point, (see accompanying map). The boundary of 
this basin may be described as follows: Leaving the L. & 
N. railroad at Brock’s Station (near Brock’s Gap) and going 
due east about three quarters of a mile to the base of the 
