| It was as early as 1906, when
sodalite was being quarried locally. S. J. Ritchie of the C.O.R. toured
and predicted a great future for North Hastings. He was impressed with
the samples of polished marble and granite shown to him and commented
"Were this section properly advertised", "American capital
would be forthcoming".
In 1905, the quarry was opened too supply rock for England's Marlborough
House. The Duke & Duchess of Cornwall visit Bancroft in 1901 and were
presented with samples of minerals including a piece of sodalite from
Bancroft and the Duchess then expressed a desire to use it to decorate
her home, The Marlborough House. When the order was received from London
in 1905, the Duke & Duchess had been created the "Prince &
Princess of Wales". The mine owner's then called their mine "The
Princess", to honour the lady who patronized it.
During 1906, Sir Ernest Caswell from London, had 130 tons of blue marble
, shipped to Park Lane in London to be used in his very fashionable residence.
We must keep in mind that Bancroft's first mining boom, was not only
influenced by successful development of mines of Hastings County, but
by the Klondike Gold Rush, which coloured the times between its start
in 1896 and its end in 1903. It had peaked in 1898 and by 1900 had already
started to wind down.
Source:
Bancroft - A Bonanza of Memories
Nil Y. Reynolds
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