The Buxton National Historic Site and Museum is a tribute to the Elgin Settlement (also known as the Buxton Mission, Raleigh, Kent County), established in 1849 by Reverend William King (1812–1895),[1]: 40  and an association which included Lord Elgin, then the Governor General of Canada.

[2] The Elgin settlement was divided into 50-acre (200,000 m2) lots which could only be purchased by Black settlers.

[2].Black settlers had 10 years to pay for their property, and houses were built to minimum standards.

[2] By 1864, there was a steam grist mill, steam saw-mill, shoe shop, two general stores, a blacksmith, cooperage, school with forty students on average, and a church (24 by 32 feet (7.3 m × 9.8 m)) seating 200.

[1]: 42–43 Opened in 1967, the museum complex includes the main building with exhibits about the community and its history, an 1861 schoolhouse, an 1854 log cabin, and a barn.