Text from the Plaque
In 1853 Billa Flint (1805-94) a lumberman, member of the legislative assembly and later of the senate, built sawmills here on the Skootamatta River. A village, at first named Troy but soon renamed Bridgewater, was laid out the same year. Extensive marble deposits were subsequently discovered here and this church, erected 1864-66 is believed to be the only one in Canada constructed of that material. The first resident minister's son, the eminent gynaecological surgeon, Thomas Stephen Cullen (1868-1953) was born in the adjacent parsonage. In 1883 the mining of actinolite, a mineral used in the manufacture of roofing material, was began nearby, and about 1895 the village received its present name.
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