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Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site

Top choice in Southwestern Ontario


About 100km northeast of Windsor, this historic site is the location of the clapboard home of Father Josiah Henson, an escaped slave who later became a conductor on the Underground Railroad (in all, he led 118 people to freedom). Henson's life was the inspiration behind Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. The 5-hectare site has multimedia exhibits relating to Henson's life, Beecher Stowe's book and the history of enslaved people in the USA and their escape to Canada.

The site itself sits on what was once the Dawn Settlement, a Black community founded by Henson; at its peak, it had 500 inhabitants. Three historic buildings and two cemeteries can be explored. To get here, take exit 101 off Hwy 401 and follow the signs. Well worth a side trip.