O pening of mines and quarries brought people to town. Blue Hill had three periods when copper was mined. The big rush was from 1879 to 1883. William Stewart, who may have discovered Nevada's Comstock Lode, came to town and found William Darling mining copper in a small way and talking about silver in a big way. Boston and New York papers published his declaration.
Developers come to town and local people caught the mining fever.
It was a case of mine in every pasture, a strike on every knoll. Excited sightseers came to town to view the mines. B ut soon the mining bubble burst and the mines closed. Most non-natives fled town, though a few stayed and became farmers. Mills and shaft houses were torn down for lumber, camps were moved to the village and set up along the Mill Brook.