Mine Brook takes its name from an iron mine established here in 1696 by the Leonards, a famous iron monger family from Norton and Taunton. The ore dug at this site, called bog iron, was found in the swamp and brook. The Leonards hauled the ore in ox carts to their forge at Chartly village in Norton, where it was made into iron products. In 1720, when the town relocated Tremont Street, the Leonards were allowed to remove any ore found beneath the new road as long as the bridge and its causeway over Mine Brook were not damaged.