It is located on the Sydenham River 16 kilometres (10 mi) southwest of the community of Strathroy.

Napier is almost a ghost town for many of its buildings have been torn down over the years and it has few or no businesses left.

One early settler was Captain Christopher Beer who previously had spent 14 years in the Royal Navy.

In 1830, Beer received 800 acres (324 ha) of land in what is now the Napier area along the Sydenham.

He then returned to England to get his family, brought them back and built a two-storey log house near the present site of the village.

He arrived in the wilderness with bagpipes, a piano, 30 complete sets of military arms and a substantial amount of money.

When a sea captain, Christoper Beer, died in 1871, aged 80, he was buried in the southeast corner.

When asked why she married Wrinkle, she replied, "His gracious manners and kindly ways took my fancy.

The Presbyterian church was rebuilt in 1887 and set on a hill in the southwest part of the village where it still stands today.

This mill stood on the river behind the general store standing in the village today.

In 1880, the township council started holding regular meetings in the new Napier Town Hall.

[4] The village did not become a ghost town overnight but faded slowly during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Next door is St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and across the road is the Napier House, which has been saved from the wrecking ball by a local committee of concerned citizens who raised funds to replace the crumbling foundation and restore the brick facade to its original appearance.