[2] Buffalo Hart was originally built in the 19th century, first as a frontier settlement based on a prairie grove,[3] and then as a rural station stop on the Gilman, Clinton and Springfield Railroad twelve miles northeast of Springfield, Illinois, the state capital.

[2] Farmers would bring fresh vegetables and milk to the now-vanished railroad station for transportation into nearby cities.

The railroad's successor-in-interest, the Canadian National, continues to operate a right-of-way that passes through Buffalo Hart.

A small grove of trees about 0.5 miles south of the village, which originally stood out amongst the tallgrass prairie grassland of central Illinois, has long been called "Buffalo Hart."

A three-acre remnant of the white oak grove has been preserved for public use as the Robert Burns Memorial Park.