Picture a quiet field at the foot of Mount Pevee, back in 1828. A 14-year-old boy, Nathan Mills Banfill, is simply looking for a drink of water. But what he discovers that day changes the story of this region: three springs with a strange taste and smell—like rotten eggs—rich in sulphur.
These sulphurous waters quickly attract attention for their healing powers. People come to bathe, to drink, or even to take bottles home. They’re said to be good for the liver, the kidneys, the skin, and sore muscles.
Word spreads fast. In 1863, during a celebration, a group of businessmen carve the Freemason symbol—the compass and square—onto a nearby rock. A merchant from Stanstead, Carlos Freeman Haskell, names the springs “Mount Pleasant Spring.”
By 1875, the site’s reputation grows with the construction of the Potton Springs Hotel by Nathaniel H. Green, son of William Green, the landowner where the springs were discovered. The hotel could host 75 guests, with rooms costing just two dollars a night. Under the management of J. A. Wright and Company, the hotel expanded in 1912, doubling its capacity.
The arrival of the railway in 1877 brings even more visitors—not only from the Eastern Townships and Montreal, but also from Western Canada, the United States, France, and England. The Orford Mountain Railway—later acquired by the Canadian Pacific—makes the journey easier. A covered platform is even built to welcome travellers in comfort.
But people don’t come only for the therapeutic baths. They also come for the fun: balls, film screenings, live shows… Potton Springs becomes a lively resort destination, with a stable, a garage for the first automobiles, and even its own post office, which opened in 1908.
By the late 1920s, with the Great Depression beginning, the resort’s popularity starts to fade. In 1930, J. A. Wright sells the hotel to Francis Larin. Sadly, a fire destroys the building on December 12, 1934. Another fire, in 1995, later claims the entertainment hall.
Today, the spirit of the place is alive again. In 1998, the Poorna-Jnana Yoga Foundation purchased the 156-acre site to create a centre for meditation and spiritual renewal. Construction of their centre began in 2021, continuing the long tradition of wellness and healing linked to Potton Springs.