Buxton, Louisiana - A piece of paradise for Blacks at the turn of the last century

https://blackamericaweb.com/2019/02/04/little-known-black-history-fact-buxton-louisiana/

Established by coal baron and railroad mogul, Ben Buxton, the town sprang up due to a strike waged by White coal miners. Buxton needed replacements for his striking work force and found theme down South.

The town created itself as workers, both Black and White, came to Buxton's southern work site. The settlement expanded and thrived, home to all. The races lived, worked and went to school side by side. It boasted a population of bewteen eight and ten thousand with Blacks the majority.

But in the first part of the twentieth-century, the town began a decline as other energy demands began overruling coal. Profitability waned as coal production reached a plateau. By the late 1920s, many had left the twon for other work. Today it is a designated historic U. S. site and is on the official National Register of historic Places

founder Ben Buxton, coal magnate