Toponymie | Canton de Potton | Place Names

The Talc mines and the milling operations once operated by the Baker Mining and Milling Company Ltd. in Potton are now all closed.  The earliest record of talc and soapstone mining in Brome County is the shipment of 300 tons of soapstone having a value of $1,800 …from Bolton Township in 1871.  “Pits were dug on other deposits, (…) but no other shipments were recorded until 1938, when Baker Mining and Milling Company Ltd erected a mill in Potton Township.  A deposit of talc behind the mill was mined through a tunnel into the hillside, ground in the mill, and shipped to customers in Ontario and Quebec.”^[1]  This mill remained open in Highwater for many years, with milled ore first being shipped by rail and subsequently by truck to its destination.

The mines in Potton contributed to the development and economic growth of the Township, and over the years several families were sustained by working in them. 

The following notation appeared in the Waterloo Advertiser, November 1866 issue “Messers Miles & Wilson, of Lennoxville, C.E. (Canada East), have secured the right of purchase – for nine months – the mining claim (…) situated in the township of Potton, C.E., three miles from Mansonville.  A splendid quarry of soap stone, copper and silver are said to be included in the claim.”  Miles and Wilson were experienced mineralogists, and according to the article, “must have found something of value or they would not have taken the trouble to secure it.”^[2]

See other entries for Chemins Baker, Giroux, and Van Reet, Giroux mine and Marcoux mine – all of which were under the aegis of Baker Mining and Milling Company.