Black Lake

Nowadays, Black Lake is a borough in the City of Thetford-Mines in Chaudière-Appalaches. For many years, however, it was a town well known in Québec for its asbestos mines, reportedly the largest in the world.

Before the French colonization, the area was homeland for the Abenaki tribe. Later, at the end of the 18th century, Loyalists, still faithful to the crown after the American Revolution, joined the French settlers.

In 1882, when the Irvin&Hopper Mine was opened, more immigrants (Scottish, Irish, Eastern European, Italian) arrived to work in the mining industry. That was when the Town of Black Lake was founded. On 25 April 1908, it got officially named after the nearby lake that looked black when the mountain next to it threw a shadow on its waters at dusk. The lake, dried up, does not exist anymore, but the town kept the name.

On 17 October 2001, together with several other municipalities, the Town of Black Lake joined the City of Thetford-Mines.

See also:

  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • LinkedIn
  • TwitThis