More in the link but here is some of the write up:
The first known record of the town is in 1823 when ore, practically phosphorus-free, was discovered by a trapper named George Collins.
Nothing more was done until 1868 when a business trio consisting of Messrs. Foote, Weed and Waldo made contact with Edmund Rogers, who owned the tract of land, to purchase four-fifths of his property. Much litigation followed between the four gentlemen. An agreement was finally forged in which Mr. Weed and a new player in the purchase game, a Mr. Williams, became the sole owners of the property today known as Lyon Mountain.
The pair formed a partnership which became known as the Chateaugay Ore and Iron Companies. Then, in the fall of 1873, the task of developing the land began in earnest.
At the time there was only one small clearing in the dense forest, with a few log shanties along what are now known as Mine and West Mine streets. The area needed a name so it was called Lyon Mountain after a former resident of the area, one Nathaniel Lyon.
Mr. Lyon had come to the area in 1803 from Vermont and settled at the base of the impressive mountain. He cleared a large farm in the area and lived there until he died around 1850. Records from St. Bernard's Church show that the hamlet was named Rogersfield after a Mr. Rogers. It was to later be renamed Lyon Mountain by Messrs. Weed and Williams.
In 1874, they expanded their property holding while more and more miners were making their way into the hamlet to support themselves and their families. The number of miners that year peaking around 150. This obviously meant that new houses had to be built throughout the community that then consisted of only 40 houses, a small wooden school and a single church.
The mining operation expanded in 1881 to include Lyon Mountain itself. It continued for 86 years under three companies. The once-thriving mining operations ceased for good in 1967, when the cost of getting the ore out of the long-tapped mines became just too expensive.
Probably no parent ever wanted his or her son to work in the mines of Lyon Mountain. It was especially hard work, cold, wet and dangerous. There were so many ways for miners to be killed or seriously injured -rock slides, falling down vertical shafts and mistakes handling dynamite -were among the most common.
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Down ... /lyon.html