TopNational Historic Site · 1913–1914Doukhobor Suspension Bridgenear Highway 3APhoto: Wtshymanski · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons file
Doukhobor Suspension Bridge · Photo: Wtshymanski · CC BY-SA 4.01historic place on the registers
History of Castlegar · Canada’s heritage registers
Castlegar’s 1 historic place is a top designation
Castlegar’s one place is Doukhobor Suspension Bridge, a national historic site begun in 1913. Wikidata gives 1946 for the municipality, whether that is when it was founded, incorporated or merged. Scaled to its population, Castlegar’s 1.1 per 10,000 residents beats 80% of Canadian towns.
Historic places
1
1.1 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
1
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Oldest building
1913
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
25%
typical town: 18%
The map
Where Castlegar’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designations
Names show on hover, and a tap takes you to the place’s page.
The 1, by tier
1 Highest designations
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 Castlegar with the highest designation
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. Each one opens its own page.
Around the town
Within 50 km of Castlegar, 2 top designations
Among them are 2 National Historic Sites and 2 heritage railway stations. Closest of all is Rossland Court House, in Rossland, 26 km off. They are spread over 3 towns, including Rossland, Salmo and Nelson.
The 4 nearest, within 50 km
| Rossland Court HouseNational Historic Site · 1898–1902 · 26 km away, in Rossland |
| Miners' Union HallNational Historic Site · 1898–1899 · 26 km away, in Rossland |
| Burlington Northern Railway Station, Salmo, British ColumbiaHeritage Railway Station · 1913–1914 · 29 km away, in Salmo |
| Canadian Pacific Railway Station, Nelson, British ColumbiaHeritage Railway Station · 1900–1901 · 34 km away, in Nelson |
Homes by age
Only 1.8% of Castlegar’s homes were built from 2016 to 2021 (4.1% is typical)
Castlegar’s largest group of homes, 39%, went up from 1961 to 1980. Before 1961: 25% of Castlegar’s homes, against 18% in most towns. Count back from today and half of Castlegar’s homes are older than 1981.
25%
Before 1961
39%
1961–80
22%
1981–2000
12%
2001–15
1.8%
2016–21
CastlegarTypical town
2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.
Towns its size
Castlegar has the 4th most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 9,400 to 9,600 residents, by places on the registers.
Castlegar1
Only Oromocto, La Pêche and Manor Park have more. The middle one has 0. 9 of them have nothing on the registers.
Neighbours
Castlegar and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castlegar | 9,465 | 1 | 1 | 1913 |
| Electoral Area J, Central Kootenay | 3,915 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Electoral Area B (Lower Columbia-Old-Glory), Kootenay Boundary | 1,432 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Electoral Area I, Central Kootenay | 2,758 | 0 | 0 | — |
In brief
Castlegar in brief
Before 1961: 25% of Castlegar’s homes, against 18% in the typical town. There are 1 historic place in all, one with the highest designation; Doukhobor Suspension Bridge heads them. Only 3 of the 16 towns nearest its size have more historic places. For the rest, its designation dates from 1995.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- People and events. Parks Canada’s open file gives its national historic persons no place. A town’s page names one only when the person was born there (matched by name and both life years) or one of its own historic places carries the name and its record speaks of them; national historic events stay off.
- Provincial and municipal lists. Outside Québec, provinces’ and municipalities’ heritage registers aren’t open data; their places are known only through Wikidata items with a register number, and only those with an encyclopedia article get a page.
- Protection. A National Historic Site designation recognises significance; it doesn’t by itself protect a building the federal government doesn’t own. Legal protection comes from provincial and municipal designations, whose own registers aren’t open data outside Québec.
- The federal register. Every federal designation is in Parks Canada’s directory, and the Canadian Register of Historic Places gives most of them a bilingual statement of significance.
- The tiers. Three tiers: the top for National Historic Sites, classified federal buildings and Québec’s classements, a second for the other federal designations, a third for provincial and municipal listings.
- The grade. History is described, not graded, for every Canadian town.
- Map points. Pins for federal places come from Wikidata rather than Parks Canada, which gives no points.
Questions about Castlegar’s history
Which places in Castlegar have the highest designation?
Doukhobor Suspension Bridge.
What is the oldest building in Castlegar?
Doukhobor Suspension Bridge (National Historic Site): the first construction date on its record is 1913.
How old are the homes in Castlegar?
25% of its homes were built before 1961, against 18% in the typical Canadian town.
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.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).