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Visitor Center of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Photographed by Tony White, and used here with permission.

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site

Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic site is an open-air museum in Dresden, Ontario. It documents the life of Josiah Henson, the history of slavery, and the underground railroad. The historic site is situated on the grounds of the former Dawn settlement established by Henson; a former slave, abolitionist, and minister. In his autobiography,  The life Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada narrated by himself. He served as the inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

1. The museum is owned and operated by Ontario Heritage Trust

The property containing uncle Tom’s cabin historic site is part of 81 hectares (200 acres) of land purchased in 1941 to establish the dawn settlement a refuge for the many fugitives from slavery who escaped to Canada from the united state. The museum was privately owned until 1988 when it was sold to Kent county.  Ownership of the property was later transferred to  St. Clair Parkway Commission in 1995 before it was transferred to the  Ontario Heritage Trust in 2005.

2. It has the Josiah Henson interpretive Centre

The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada placed a plaque next to Henson’s grave in 1999,By NearEMPTiness – Own work, Wikipedia

It is located on the site and houses a collection of the 19th-century artifact and rare books pertinent to the abolitionist era, as well as a display highlighting Reverend Josiah Henson’s life. At the interpretive center, visitors are ushered into the north star theatre for an audio-visual presentation and introduction to the history of this historic site several historic buildings from dawn settlement, and two cemeteries one of one which holds Henson’s gravesite. Informal tours of the Henson family home began in 1948 although the larger property was not converted into a museum until 1964. The museum was privately owned until 1988 when it was sold  to Kent county 

3. It has the underground railroad freedom gallery

It recounts the history of freedom seekers from being taken from Africa and enslaved in the united states to finding freedom in Canada, it pays tributes to all efforts to abolish human enslavement and secure freedom for all the people. The Centre offers insights into the struggle for freedom in the past present and future as it attempts to challenge visitors to contemplate the meaning of freedom in their own lives 

4. It has the Central station gift shop

I recently visited Uncle Tom’s Cabin at a bend in the Sydenham River near the town of Dresden, Ontario. By jimmy-Wikipedia

It offers a wide selection of unique Africa and Canadian art and souvenirs as well as an extensive selection of books 

5. There was a sawmill built

This was one of the methods by which the land was cleared. By building a sawmill, the students, residents, and workers at Dawn Settlement no longer had to transport their wood to mills, wait their turn, and go back later for the boards. This was an important step in achieving self-sufficiency.

6. There is a smokehouse

It is housed in the trunk of a sycamore tree, once used for curing and preserving meat

7. Its gothic architecture

The Pioneer Church is architecturally significant as a handsome example of a one-room church in the Carpenter’s Gothic style. Once a common architectural form in Ontario, this type of church is usually associated with small rural settlements and has become increasingly rare in Ontario. The single-story church boasts board and batten cladding, contains a modest entrance at its eastern gable end, and displays axial symmetry in each of its elevations. The six windows of the building are divided equally between the north, east, and south elevations, and it is their lancet-shaped openings that give the church its typically Gothic appearance. The interior of the church consists of a single room with ten pews divided into two rows, wainscoting along each wall, and a raised speaker’s platform at the west end. The oak pulpit and organ that sit upon this platform are of special significance, as they both originate from the Methodist Church in Dresden where Reverend Henson preached many of his famous sermons.

8. There is a Henson family cemetery

The Henson homestead was the home Henson resided in while living in Dawn, By NearEMPTiness – Own work, Wikipedia

The  Henson family cemetery is located adjacent to the church (the Josiah Henson memorial stone and National Historic plaque are located here).

9. There is a pioneer church

The Pioneer Church is one of three historic buildings on the property recognized by the Ontario Heritage Act, By NearEMPTiness – Own work, Wikipedia

The Pioneer Church is historically significant as a visual representation of the types of churches in which Reverend Henson preached while residing at the Dawn settlement. The role of the church was central to the residents of Dawn, as it not only served the spiritual needs of its members, but also assisted in the social, recreational, and educational development of the locals.  The site’s museum committee set out to commemorate the role of religion in Henson’s life. Since the Methodist Church in Dresden (the church that Henson was most closely associated with) had been destroyed by fire early in the 20th century, the museum’s committee began a search for a small wooden chapel that was similar in size, design, and date to the Dresden church. Eventually, a small wood-frame church that satisfied the search criteria was located near the town of Wheatley, approximately 70 km southwest of the site. This church, known as the Pioneer Church, was built c. 1850 and had a history of use as both a Presbyterian and Anglican Church during the second half of the 19th century. It was moved to Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site in 1964.

10. It was named after Harriet Beecher Stowe’s successful 1852 anti-slavery novel

Josiah Henson was born into slavery, but in 1830, along with his wife and four children, he escaped using the Underground Railroad, eventually crossing the Niagara River into Upper Canada (now Ontario). Henson bought 200 acres in Dawn Township to build a self-sufficient community for fugitives from slavery.