Chatham-Kent’s Historic Stops on the Underground Railroad Tour
Follow the historic Underground Railroad into Chatham-Kent where it leads to remnants of some of the earliest and most successful black settlements in Canada.

As part of Ontario’s Underground Railroad Tour, four unique stops in Chatham-Kent highlight the significance of this region in the mid-1800s as a land of new opportunity for freedom seekers.

With original structures still intact, and in some cases in use, Buxton National Historic Site and Museum showcases the success of the Elgin settlement that continues to thrive today. It is home to the only school remaining in Canada that was built by slaves prior to the Civil War. 

Recent discoveries about the earliest planned Black settlement in Kent County are revealed on a two-hour guided tour around Dresden. The Dawn Settlement Tour visits several original structures, shares fascinating stories of prominent figures whose contributions include the establishment of the British American Institute and enhances the story told at Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site. 

An interpretive centre, museum gallery and the cabin of Rev. Josiah Henson are part of Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site in Dresden. The site highlights the Dawn Settlement and pays tribute to Henson, one of the most prominent blacks of the time whose memoirs became the inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. 

Black Mecca: The Story of Chatham’s Black Community is a self-guided and interactive exhibit featuring the struggles and achievements of local blacks during slavery, the Civil War and modern times.

Also included in the Chatham-Kent Underground Railroad tour experience are the Chatham First Baptist Church and the Mary Ann Shadd Cary Ontario Heritage Foundation Plaque. For more information please use link to Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society to your right.  

For more information on Chatham-Kent, please contact Chatham-Kent Tourism at 1.800.561.6125/519.354.6125 or at Cktourism@chatham-kent.ca