The liberty bell. This bell rang out each time an escaped slave made it to Buxton. There are many dark parts of Canadian history, but I’m proud of this part. Buxton was the last stop on the Underground Railroad.

Canadian soil.

Freedom.

We recently read Elijah of Buxton, a delightful yet important work of Canadian historical fiction. Before that, I’d never even heard of Buxton. Or the liberty bell.

But once we learned about this piece of Canadian history, we added Buxton to our bucket list.

And yesterday, we checked it off.

The museum was closed, but we were able to walk around the buildings. There’s the mission school, a log cabin, a barn, and a graveyard.

Experiential learning is the most effective form of learning. Reading a history textbook is one thing. Immersing oneself a wonderful living book and visiting the places described within is quite another.

If you’re looking for to experience history, I highly recommend reading Elijah of Buxton and then visiting the Buxton National Historic Site to see it firsthand.