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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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