Acton, Alabama
27 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Alabaster-Helena census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35244. It stands on Patton Creek. The Survey maps it on the Helena quadrangle. It stands 505 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
13 surveys from 27 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1890 USGS Bessemer quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Bessemer quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1905 USGS Bessemer Iron District quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1905 USGS Bessemer Special quadrangle1:48000
- 1907 USGS Bessemer Iron District quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1907 USGS Bessemer Special quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Birmingham quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Helena quadrangle1:24000, 7 printings
- 1975 USGS Helena quadrangle1:24000
- 1984 USGS Birmingham South quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1997 USGS Helena quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
48 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 48 fires within 5 miles of Acton between 1994 and 2014, burning about 720 acres in total. None started naturally. 15 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 20 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 15 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 17 September 1998 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 10 September 1995 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 2 August 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 11 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 15 August 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 13 August 1995 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 120 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 21 July 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
9 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Acton: 3 unknowns, 3 producers, 2 prospects, 1 past producer. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Clay, Bloating Material, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lacon Plant No. 3 Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Parkwood | Bloating Material | Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Jef 6 Clay Prospect | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Parkwood Mine | Clay | Producer | ||
| Helena, Ne Of | Iron | Past Producer | Residual | |
| Johnson Prospect | Iron | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed | Iron | Unknown |
Storms near this place
14 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Acton in 14 storm reports between 2008 and 2024: 9 flash flood, 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2010 | Flash Flood | Acton | $20,000 | A period of heavy rain caused Bishop Creek to come out of its banks, and the water came up to the bottom of a few vehicles in the area. Flash flooding in the area later transitioned to long term areal flooding due to additional rainfall. |
| August 2010 | Heavy Rain | Acton | $15,000 | Minor but widespread street flooding in parts of Alabaster and Pelham. Highway 52 and Applegate Parkway. Two point five inches of rain was measured in one hour in Alabaster. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Acton | $10,000 | A large tree fell on a home on Trail Ridge Drive. |
| April 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Acton | $2,000 | Trees and power lines were blown down in the Royal Oaks subdivision. |
| May 2024 | Flash Flood | Acton | - | Highway 51 and other secondary roads in the Chelsea area were flooded, with some temporarily impassable. |
| March 2022 | Flash Flood | Acton | - | Several locations along Valleydale Road east of I-65 under water with submerged vehicles and water rescues. |
| March 2022 | Flash Flood | Acton | - | The Pelham Police Department reported stalled out and flooded vehicles near the intersection of Highway 31 and Amphitheater Road. Several streets flooded and impassable in the same area. |
| September 2021 | Flash Flood | Acton | - | Six to twelve inches of water flowing across Southgate Drive in Pelham. |
| August 2019 | Flash Flood | Acton | - | Several reports received across northern Shelby County of several feet of water flowing across roads and submerged vehicles, mainly east of Highway 31 and north of Cahaba Valley Road. The flooded roads include the intersection of Southgate Road and Winslett Road, and Valleydale Road near Veteran's Park. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Acton | - | A few trees uprooted near the Oak Mountain Amphitheater. |
| August 2013 | Flash Flood | Acton | - | Several inches of rain fell quickly across portions of the Birmingham metropolitan area, causing many roadways to became impassable and creeks to rise out of their banks. Many roadways across extreme northern Shelby County, in and around Hoover and Riverchase, were impassable. Portions of Valleydale Rd near Spain Park High School were impassable due to water flowing across the roadway. |
| July 2012 | Flash Flood | Acton | - | Two homes in the Stratford Place Subdivision were flooded by 5 and 13 inches of water on the first floor, respectively. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Acton | - | Trees were reported down along Chandabrook Drive in Pelham, as well as near the intersection of Chelsea Road and Tara Drive in Chelsea. |
| June 2011 | Flash Flood | Acton | - | Alabama Highway 119, at the I-65 interchange, became temporarily impassible due to flooding. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cahaba River Estates | 1.0 miles | 27 | |
| Indian Lake Estates | 1.2 miles | 27 | |
| Wooddale | 1.3 miles | 27 | |
| Indian Hills | 1.6 miles | 27 | |
| Southlake | 1.8 miles | 27 | |
| Valley Station | 1.9 miles | 27 | |
| Royal Oaks | 2.0 miles | 27 | |
| Quail Run | 2.3 miles | 27 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Acton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q19460096 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 112906. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.












