Text of marker:
Near the location of this marker is the site of Buxton, once the largest town in Monroe County. A coal boom town it was founded in 1900 by the railroad which operated the five mines in the vicinity. At its peak, Buxton number over 6,000 inhabitants, a majority of whom were black. Thes3 miners lived and worked with little racial friction during the active days of the Buxton mines. At the turn of the century, coal production was one of Iowa's major industries, and Monroe County was the largest coal producer in the state. With the close of the mines in the 1920's, Buxton became a ghost town.