Potton is a

township municipality A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canada ...

of about 2,500 people in the Memphrémagog Regional County Municipality. It is located on the western shore of

Lake Memphremagog Lake Memphremagog (; , ) is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport (city), Vermont, Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The lake spans both Quebec and Vermont, but is mostly in Quebec. Most of the watershed th ...

in the

Estrie Estrie () is an List of Quebec regions, administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. ''Estrie'', a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of ''est'', "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 pe ...

(

Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby, Quebec, Granby in ...

) region of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, and is one of the municipalities in Brome County. Potton is located about southeast of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, to the southwest of the city of Magog, and next to the United States border, north of North Troy, Vermont. Potton Township (Canton de Potton) consists of several villages and hamlets that include Potton Springs, Mansonville, Highwater, Dunkin, Province Hill, Leadville, Vale Perkins, Perkins Landing, and Knowlton's Landing. Of these, Mansonville is the business center and the seat of government (Municipalite du canton de Potton) for the township. Formerly a sleepy community, Mansonville has experienced some growth and prosperity because of its proximity to the Owl's Head ski resort. Like many

and New England villages, Mansonville grew up around a water-powered mill which exploited a head of water above a fall on the North Branch of the

Missisquoi River The Missisquoi River is a transboundary river of the east shore of Lake Champlain (via Missisquoi Bay), approximately long, in northern Vermont in the United States and southern Quebec in Canada. It drains a rural area of the northern Green Moun ...

. The mill ceased operating with electrification in the early 20th century, which allowed economies of scale and centralized manufacturing in larger centres. It operated as a feed and grain mill until 2004, when it was destroyed by fire. Overlooking the mill site is the mansion of the Manson family that founded the town. The mansion has since become a bed and breakfast. The Newport Subdivision of the

Central Maine and Quebec Railway The Central Maine and Québec Railway was a Class II railroad, Class II freight railroad operating in the United States, U.S. states of Maine and Vermont and the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec with headquarters in Bangor, Maine. It was own ...

railroad (a subsidiary of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

) route from Newport, Vermont to Richford, Vermont traverses the township at Highwater and follows the Mississquoi River. The single runway Mansonville Airport (CSK4) is located near Highwater, on chemin de l'Aeroport. Mansonville, like many Eastern Townships communities, has long had a mixture of French and English-speaking residents and is home to over twenty nationalities and ethnic groups. Religious diversity is present, and in Mansonville,

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, United (closed 2011) and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

churches are located a few yards apart. Mansonville was also the home of

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

prelate Metropolitan Vitaly Ustinov for some five decades until his death in 2006.

History

The area encompassed by the township is part of the larger territory originally inhabited by the

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...

tribe. There are no known permanent Abenaki habitation sites in the township. The area was used by them for hunting and fishing. Lake Memphremagog and the

were important trade and travel routes. Perkins Landing (approx. 45.092447, -72.295008) is considered to be one end of the portage from Lake Memphremagog to the Missisquoi River. A number of place names originate from them: *Owl's Head is the English name for the mountain called "Walowadjo". From the Abenaki language, "walo" translates as "saw-whet owl" ( aegolius acadicus); "wadjo" translates as "mountain". *Owl's Head was also called "Waloimudupsek": "walo" translates as "saw-whet owl" (aegolius acadicus); "imudups" translates as "head"; "ek" translates as "location". *Memphremagog comes from the word "Memrahabegek", which means "where there is a big expanse of water". *Memphremagog was also pronounced as "Mamphremagog". This came from the Abenakis "Mamlawbagak" which signifies "a long and large sheet of water". The prefix "mamlaw" denotes largeness or abundance; the particule "baga" denotes water; and "k" marks the name as given in local term. *Missisquoi comes from the word "Masipskoik", which means "a place where there are boulders", more specifically "boulders point". *Missisquoi also comes from the Abenakis "Masipskoik" which means "where there is flint". The Eastern Townships of Quebec were opened for settlement by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The first European settler in Potton township was Nicholas Austin. He was a Loyalist from Somersworth, New Hampshire who in 1791 settled at the site of present-day Perkins Landing. Due to a navigation error, he moved, in 1793, north to Bolton Township to the land that was allocated to him. The town of Austin bears his name. Austin's log house at Perkins Landing was assumed by Samuel Perkins in 1793. Other early settlers of Potton Township were David Blanchard, Col. Henry Ruiter, Moses Elkins, and the Perkins, Manson, Gilman, and Coit families. The names of the early settlers remain in the toponymy of the township: Ruiter's Brook in Dunkin, Vale Perkins, Perkins Landing, Mansonville, and Knowlton's Landing. Potton Township was proclaimed on October 31, 1797. It, and the homonymous municipality township erected in 1845, derive their name from the town of

Potton Potton is a town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England, about east of the county town Bedford. The parish had a population in 2021 of 5,727. In 1783 the Great Fire of Potton destroyed a large part of ...

in England, located in Bedfordshire, near the village of Sutton. Perkins Landing and Knowlton's Landing were regular stops for the steamships that plied Lake Memphremagog from the latter half of the 19th century up to the mid-20th century. The first of these steamships was the ''Mountain Maid'', the ''Lady of the Lake'' was the largest, and the last was the ''Anthemis''. The wharves at these locations now provide public access to the lake. Two lighthouses were located on the shore of Lake Memphremagog. They were built in 1878 and no longer exist. * Chateau de Silva Lighthouse, located roughly midway between Knowlton's Landing and Perkins Landing, * Lead Mines Lighthouse, located near Leadville, at the foot of Mount Owl's Head. The covered bridge crossing Mud Creek was listed as a cultural heritage site in 2008. The bridge was built in 1896 and is of the "Town Simple" type. A round barn, built in 1911 for Robert Jersey, is situated in Mansonville. The structure and site were listed as a cultural heritage site in 2009. Highwater was the site of the

Space Research Corporation Space Research Corporation was a corporation founded by Gerald Bull, after the budget for his research at Project HARP for the United States and Canadian federal governments was cut in 1967, in order to commercialize the technology of long-range a ...

where

Gerald Bull Gerald Vincent Bull (March 9, 1928 – March 22, 1990) was a Canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery. He moved from project to project in his quest to economically launch a satellite using a space gun, huge artillery piece, to which ...

performed ballistics research. Portions of the 1998 movie " Free Money" were filmed in Vale Perkins, Highwater, Mansonville, and near Mount Owl's Head. Some exterior scenes for the third season of the Quebec police thriller ''

La Faille ''La Faille'' (English: ''The Flaw'') or ''The Wall'' (French: ''Le Mur'') is a French Canadian television crime drama series of three seasons, with a total of 25 episodes, which started broadcasting on Club Illico in 2019. The serie ...

'' (2022) were filmed in Mansonville on September 21 and 22, 2021. The town hall served as the site of the series town "Applegrove" police station. The closed Restaurant Soleil Rouge served as the series establishment "Chez Karen". Other scenes were filmed on Rue des Pins, Rue Principale, and in Parc Mansonville. The episodes were aired in November 2022 on Club Illico.

Geography

The eastern boundary of the township is the western half of Lake Memphremagog. The southern boundary is the international border with the United States of America. The western boundary is formed by the Sutton Mountains. The elevation of Lake Memphremagog is . The maximum recorded depth is , which is located north of Mount Owl's Head and between Perkins Landing and Knowltons Landing, opposite Jewett Point (at approximately ). The territory of the township is traversed by the north to south flow of the North Branch of the Missisquoi River. It confluences in Highwater with the South Branch of the Missisquoi River, forming the Missisquoi River which disembogues into

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

at Missisquoi Bay. The township is dotted with many mountains. Among the more prominent peaks are: *Peewee, with a height of and located at *Elephantis (also called Elephantus), with a height of and located at *Hog's Back, with a height of and located at *Owl's Head, with a height of and located at *Hawk, with a height of and located at *Bear, with a height of and located at Potton is well known for the many sugar bushes that produce maple syrup, considered among the most remarkable in the Quebec.

Geology and soils

Most of the bedrock underlying the township is

Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...

-era

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

phyllite Phyllite ( ) is a type of foliation (geology), foliated metamorphic rock formed from slate that is further metamorphosed so that very fine grained white mica achieves a preferred orientation.Stephen Marshak ''Essentials of Geology'', 3rd ed. I ...

greywacke Greywacke or graywacke ( ) is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness (6–7 on Mohs scale), dark color, and Sorting (sediment), poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or sand-size Lith ...

and

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

. There are bands of

ultramafic rock Ultramafic rocks (also referred to as ultrabasic rocks, although the terms are not wholly equivalent) are igneous and meta-igneous rocks with a very low silica content (less than 45%), generally >18% MgO, high FeO, low potassium, and are usua ...

near the Missisquoi River valley, and

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

also occurs.

Quaternary glaciation The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial period, glacial and interglacial, interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Year#SI prefix multipliers, Ma (million ...

left deposits of stony loam till plus outwash deposits of sand and gravel. Benchlands overlooking the Missisquoi River commonly have deposits of clay loam.

Brown podzolic Brown podzolic soils are a subdivision of the Podzolic soils in the British soil classification. Although classed with podzols because they have an iron-rich, or spodic horizon, they are, in fact intermediate between podzols and Brown earths. ...

and

podzol Podzols, also known as podosols, spodosols, or espodossolos, are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathlan ...

profile developments are most common. The area is also rich in talc. For many years the Baker Talc company operated underground mining and open-pit operations in South Bolton, with a plant in Highwater. The mine and plant are inactive. Other inactive mines include a copper mine on the northwestern slope of Hog's Back and a lead mine in Leadville.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Potton had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Population trend: Mother tongue (2011)

Coat of arms

The township received a Grant of Arms on March 25, 1992. Among the symbols on the arms are: * five peaks, representing the five main mountains in Potton * blue wavy lines, representing the many waterways, ponds, and the lake * the sun, representing the bright future of Potton * a crown, symbolizing Quebec and Canada * the latticework of the

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

across Mud Creek * a deer, representing the deer and other wildlife that are abundant in the area * the motto "Ille Terrarum Mihi Omnis Angulus Ridet" ("This small corner of the world smiles at me above all").

References

External links

Potton Heritage AssociationGeology, Cowansville-Sutton-Mansonville, Québec / Géologie, Cowansville-Sutton-Mansonville, Québec (Map 1750A (1991))
{{authority control Township municipalities in Quebec Incorporated places in Estrie