CAHABA COAL FIELD: GOULD BASIN. 79 
few yards farther brings you to the Interior fault vertical 
coal measures ; thence northeastwards along the northwest 
edge of the vertical measures of the Interior fault, crossing 
Cahaba river again in the southwest corner of section 17, 
township 21, range 4 west; continuing along the edge of 
said fault, crossing Ward’s Creek, Shaw’s Creek, mouth of 
Hurricane Creek, the two Sandstone branches; crossing 
Trigger Creek and continuing on to opposite the mouth of 
Lainey Branch, the point of commencement; this point is 
about three-quarters of a mile northeast of Lainey Ford. 
The Gould basin is drained by the Cahaba river and its 
tributaries—Shades Creek, Hancock Creek, Ward’s Creek, 
Shaw’s Creek, Hurricane Creek, Little Sandstone Branch, 
Big Sandstone Branch, Trigger Creek and Lainey Branch. 
The most prominent ridge in this basin is Shades Moun- 
tain ; at the southwest end of this basin it is named Sand 
Mountain. The next one in size and prominence is the one 
next to Shades Mountain on its southeast side; running 
parallel with it. This is called Pine Ridge in the northeast 
end of the basin—but is named House Mountain in the mid- 
dle of the basin, and Hurricane Ridge in the southwest end 
of the basin. The next one in size and prominence is Red 
Ridge. This one, on the South and North Alabama Rail- 
road, is called Red or Chestnut Ridge, and contains the 
upper measures of the Millstone Grit formation. 
These three ridges just mentioned are all parallel with 
one another from one end of the basin to the other. At 
the southwest end they become broken. There are other 
ridges of less prominence, mostly running parallel with 
those above mentioned. All these ridges are cut by some 
of the smaller creeks and branches, except Shades or Sand 
Mountain; this mountain is cut through only in one place, 
that is at the southwest end of the basin where Shades 
Creek cuts a gap in it, in its course from Shades Valley to 
Cahaba river. 
The length of this basin is nine and three-quarter miles 
by an average width of two and two-tenths miles, and it 
contains a surface area of twenty-one and a half square 
miles. It contains in seams of two feet and upwards of 
workable coal, 77,000,000 tons (2,000 pounds), within a 
