Beginning in the 1850s, the Eastern Townships were the centre of a massive "copper rush". One of the first copper mines in the area was in Leeds Township. Immense deposits were soon discovered in Acton, Bolton, and most important of all, Ascot, where rich concentrations of copper ore (and sulphur) were discovered in 1859.
Stanstead’s local indigenous stone, and the mainstay of the local economy, is a variety of granite most often referred to as “Stanstead grey.” Stanstead grey has been quarried and worked in and around Beebe (which is now a part of Stanstead) for generations. But what exactly is this durable stone?
In the early years of settlement, farmers had to make their own shoes, harnesses, and other leather necessities. When a cow died, the farmer and his wife would scrape, cure, and stretch the hide. The leather could then be used for making everything from patches for mending clothing to door hinges.
When tanneries began to appear in villages, the nasty chore of curing cowhides was not one that was widely missed by many people.
An animal that was essential to the settlers was the sheep, whose fleece could be used to produce wool. On the farms each spring, sheep would be sheared and the wool washed of its natural grease and dirt, combed, and finally carded. Carding was the untangling of the fibres. Hand cards were used.
The first settlers who were granted land in the Eastern Townships promised to build grist mills and roads within the first two years of settlement. There were few people more important to a settlement than the miller. The village mill was the link between farm and industry.
While workers elsewhere were suffering the work shortages and poverty of the worst part of the Great Depression, the "Three Villages" in the early 1930s were enjoying full employment.
Hunter’s Mills is situated on a side-road about mid-way between Stanbridge East and Frelighsburg, along Route 237.
Built up around a small waterfall on the Pike (Brochets) River, Hunter's Mills takes its name from the Hunter family, who ran a woollen mill at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Route 247, between Beebe Plain and the Fitch Bay Narrows, is an undulating, winding stretch of road with some lovely unspoiled scenery, picturesque farms, and splendid views of Owl’s Head, across Lake Memphremagog. It’s a beautiful drive.
Although Massawippi is by no means a ghost town, the village is a long way from the vibrant little community it once was. Situated at the junction of Routes 208 and 143, about midway between Stanstead and Lennoxville, the village’s origins date back to the beginning of the 1800s.
A hamlet in Potton Township, Vale Perkins, or East Potton, as it was once known, was named after Samuel Perkins who settled in this vicinity in the 1790s.