The Van Buren area was colonized in the early 1790s and became part of the United States in 1842. Joseph Cyr and François and Augustin Violette settled there as they were trying to get away from the Loyalists' demographic encroachment in the Sainte-Anne-des-Pays-Bas region (Fredericton). Despite a gradual assimilation, the Acadian community in Van Buren still maintained close relations with those in Saint-Leonard and other neighbouring New Brunswick towns. Today, one of the main attractions of the region is an Acadian village with around fifteen period dwellings.