Discovering Ontario · Drawing 02 of 32
The Buxton Schoolhouse
North Buxton
This schoolhouse helps keep Buxton’s history alive. Black families seeking freedom built a community here, and learning mattered a lot to them.
Did you know?
The Buxton settlement was founded in 1849.
Look together
Why do you think school mattered so much to these families?
An idea to try
Draw three things you would like to learn at school.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Buxton developed with people who had escaped slavery in the United States and abolitionist allies. Most slave states made it illegal to teach enslaved people to read, so at Buxton going to school was a concrete sign of freedom. The mission school offered a classical education, including Latin and Greek, so respected that white families also sent their children there. The surviving schoolhouse is part of the historic site. The visitors in the drawing are contemporary and imagined. Gaining freedom did not mean that racism disappeared.
Sources and illustration notes (2)
Simplified interpretation for colouring. Settings and people may be combined or imagined. Details, distances and proportions are not a measured record of the place.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Parks Canada: Buxton Settlement National Historic SitePlace, history or natural feature described on this page.
- The Canadian Encyclopedia: Elgin SettlementClassical education with Greek and Latin; white families enrolled their children and the school became integrated.
Page prepared on October 3, 2026. Illustrations are simplified for colouring.
This drawing is from the book My Ontario to Colour
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