Lotus

By Guy Scott

Just a few miles west of Ballyduff, the concession road crossed a branch of the Pigeon River that contained an eligible mill site. A sawmill was built on the site, and more importantly, a grist mill. The settlers here came from Darlington and Cartwright Townships. The hamlet was originally called Frogpond after three little ponds on the creek. The shallow ponds were filled with lilies, also called lotus flowers, and voila: instant name! A large block of land in the area was granted to Bishop Mountain, head of the Anglican Church in Quebec! This act restricted settlement in the vicinity until the Bishop sold the farm land, so it could be taken up by real settlers. The mill at Lotus was operated for a time by Adam Scott, founder of Peterborough. The mill site contained the usual saw and grist mills, but also a tannery and carding mill. Lotus never attained much of a business community. It contained only one general store, blacksmith, church and hotel. In the late 1800s, the church, Orange Lodge and Temperance Society all closed and moved to surrounding villages. The school remained to serve the many area farms and the mill hung on until the 1940s. Then Lotus joined the pages of ghost towns.