Buxton Settlement was founded in 1849 by Irish Presbyterian Minister, Reverend William
King and 15 former American slaves who, with other Underground Railroad
(UGRR) refugees and abolitionists, purchased a 4,680 hectare tract of
land as a joint stock company. Settlers cleared the land and established
farms on 50-acre (202,342 square metre) plots which they purchased over
time. By 1859, the settlement reached its peak population of over 1,000
residents served by three integrated schools, two temperance hotels, a
general store, a post office, a sawmill, a brickyard, a grist mill and a
pearlash factory. In 1873, its objectives achieved, the company was
disbanded but the community survived.
Today the
Buxton Settlement is a National Historic Site of Canada.
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