Government House · Photo: WinterforceMedia WinterE229 · Public domain
25historic places on the registers
History of Edmonton · Canada’s heritage registers
The registers list 25 historic places in Edmonton, one at the top
The list takes in 22 provincial or municipal listings, a heritage railway station and a Recognized Federal Heritage Building. The earliest construction date, 1907, belongs to Canadian Pacific Railway Station, Edmonton, Alberta. There are also 75 listings on provincial or municipal registers with no open description, so no pages.
provincial and municipal listings with an encyclopedia article
Oldest building
1907
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
13%
typical town: 18%
In pictures
Edmonton’s heritage in 25 photos, and 14 pictures of its past
First come Government House and “Canadian Pacific Railway Station, Edmonton, Alberta”. Every place on Edmonton’s registers has a photo here. Open a place’s page for its old views: 6 places in Edmonton have them.
Photos from Wikimedia Commons, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the place’s page. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Through time
Back in time: Edmonton, 1904–1942
8 old photographs of the town, joined by the oldest views of 6 of its historic places, from oldest to latest. Tap any picture to see it full screen.
1890190019101920193019401950Confederation to 1900Boom yearsThe wars and betweenAfter the war
Public domain or CC0, made before 1950, from Wikimedia Commons; old views of places can be drawings, prints or maps of their time. Each credit opens the image’s page.
How it began
The making of Edmonton, from 1795
Edmonton was founded in 1795. That makes it 231 years old. The tracks reached Edmonton in 1905.
The name Town of Edmonton lasted until 1904, when Edmonton took another. The charters of Edmonton came in turn: a town in 1892 and a city in 1904.
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designationsOther federal designationsProvincial and local listings
Each dot is a place: point at it for the name, tap it for its page.
The 25, by tier
1 Highest designations2 Other federal designations22 Provincial and local listings
Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations lists the places the Government of Canada has recognized; outside Québec, provincial and municipal listings come only through Wikidata, and only those with an encyclopedia article get a page.
Points from Wikidata (Parks Canada’s files carry none) and from Québec’s register, as mapped there.
Highest designations
One place in Edmonton with the highest designation
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. Each one opens its own page.
“Canadian Pacific Railway Station, Edmonton, Alberta” is the earliest, from 1907; the latest dates from 1912. By designation: a Recognized Federal Heritage Building and a heritage railway station. Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings, heritage railway stations and lighthouses. Each one opens its own page.
Leading by designation: Government House and Grierson Centre. The second-largest group is churches and religious buildings, with 3. All told, 8 kinds of place appear.
Public buildings5
Churches and religious buildings3
Theatres, museums and memorials2
Stations, lighthouses and bridges2
Forts and military buildings2
Mills, shops and works2
Houses2
Other places7
Each place sits in one group, from its name first, then the uses its register lists.
Provincial and local listings
22 more places Edmonton or its province protects
Provincial and municipal listings that Wikidata records and an encyclopedia describes. Old Scona Academic High School is the earliest, from 1908; the latest dates from 1971. Each one opens its own page.
In Edmonton, the decades after Confederation left the most behind
Each place by the first construction date on its record.
British North America 1760–18660
After Confederation 1867–19138
Wars and Depression 1914–19454
Since 1946 1946 on2
Homes by age
A growing town: 11% of Edmonton’s homes went up from 2016 to 2021, against 4.1%
Homes built from 2001 to 2015 make up 28% of Edmonton’s, against 15% in the typical town. Only 13% of Edmonton’s homes predate 1961, against 18% in the typical town. The largest single period is from 1961 to 1980, with 28% of Edmonton’s homes.
13%
Before 1961
28%
1961–80
21%
1981–2000
28%
2001–15
11%
2016–21
EdmontonTypical town
2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.
Born here
One of Canada’s national historic persons, tied to Edmonton
The line ends with Ernest Côté (1913). By Wikipedia’s reach, Marshall McLuhan leads, with 90 articles. 28 people on the record were born here before 1914. It starts with Walter Kelly Firminger, born in 1870. The timeline keeps to the 20 best known.
Walter Kelly Firminger
John William Welbourn
Victor Cui
Alan Nursall
Percy Griffith Davies
Lotta Dempsey
John McLaughlin
Gene Carrigan
Paul Runge
Marion McCarthy
Vince Barton
Red Pollard
Marshall McLuhan
Eva Ring
John Reginald Richardson
Howard Peter Blatchford
Jean Wallbridge
Josephine Mitchell
Chester Victor Clifton, Jr.
Ernest Côté
18501875190019251950
Marshall McLuhan1911–1980 · On Canada’s list since 2007 · Canadian educator, philosopher, and sch…
Red Pollard1909–1981 · Canadian jockey
JR
John Reginald Richardson1912–1997 · Canadian-American physicist
WF
Walter Kelly Firminger1870–1940 · Archdeacon of Calcutta and historian of India
VC
Victor Cui1901– · Canadian-Filipino businessman
PD
Percy Griffith Davies1902–1990 · Canadian politician
LD
Lotta Dempsey1905–1988 · Canadian journalist, editor and television personality
GC
Gene Carrigan1907–1945 · Canadian ice hockey player
Everyone born in Edmonton → Born before 1914. Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against Wikipedia; national historic persons from Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, matched by name and life years.
Inside Edmonton there are 25 historic places, one with the highest designation, led by Government House. Dates cluster in the decades after Confederation: 8 of 14. Marshall McLuhan (1911), Red Pollard (1909) and John Reginald Richardson (1912) are the best known of its historic lives. Little of its housing was standing by 1961: 13%, against 18% in the typical town. Beyond that, the list grew between 1985 and 2012.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
Protection. Federal recognition isn’t a planning control: buildings the federal government owns follow its heritage policy, while others are protected only by a provincial or municipal designation.
•
The tiers. National Historic Sites and the most protected buildings form the top tier; recognized federal buildings, stations and lighthouses the second; provincial and municipal listings the third.
•
People and events. National historic persons carry no place in the open file. They appear on a town’s page when born there (same name, same birth and death years) or when a historic place inside it carries their name and its record names them with their dates; national historic events don’t appear.
•
The federal register. The federal list is complete and open: Parks Canada’s directory for the designations, the Canadian Register of Historic Places for what each one is and why it matters.
•
Provincial and municipal lists. Only Wikidata gives open access to listings on provincial and municipal registers outside Québec; without an article such a place is counted but not paged.
•
The grade. History isn’t one of Canada’s graded pillars, so this page describes and compares without a letter.
•
Map points. Parks Canada publishes no coordinates, so federal places are pinned where Wikidata puts them.
Questions about Edmonton’s history
Which places in Edmonton have the highest designation?
It is Government House.
What is the oldest building in Edmonton?
Canadian Pacific Railway Station, Edmonton, Alberta, a Heritage Railway Station, begun in 1907.
Why might a heritage building in Edmonton be missing here?
Its province’s and council’s own lists can’t be reused here; 75 further listings in Edmonton show up only as Wikidata numbers.
How old are the homes in Edmonton?
Before 1961: 13% of its homes; the typical town has 18%.
Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (Parks Canada).
Sources: Parks Canada, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations · Canadian Register of Historic Places (federal extract) · Wikidata (CC0) for map points, other names and articles · Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (homes by period of construction). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
c. 1904
c. 1904
c. 1906
1908–1911
c. 1910
1910
c. 1911
c. 1912
c. 1914
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