Photo: CPG1100 · CC BY-SA 4.0

0historic places on the registers

History of Prince George · Canada’s heritage registers

Prince George in 4 old photographs, 1910–1930

Before 1961: just 11% of the homes, where most towns have 18%. The newest homes, 2016 to 2021, are 4.5% of the total, the typical town 4.1%.

Homes built before 1961

11%

typical town: 18%

Through time

Prince George through the years, 1910–1930

In order of date: 4 old photographs of the town. Scroll the strip and tap a picture to open it.

Boom yearsFort George Townsite planPhoto: National Resources Security Company · Public domain

The wars and betweenPrince George, BC May 1919 (HS85-10-35684)Photo: J. Simonson · Public domain

The wars and betweenPrince George, BC May 1919 (HS85-10-35684) originalPhoto: J. Simonson · Public domain

P. E. Sands of Seattle, president of Sands Motor Co., in 1911 Flanders autmobile at Prince George, British Columbia, 1930 — The wars and betweenP. E. Sands of Seattle, president of Sands Motor Co., in 1911 Flanders autmobil…Photo: Asahel Curtis · Public domain

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

Prince George’s first recorded year: 1807

The first railway station on record, Prince George railway station, opened in 1922. On the open record, Prince George as a municipality goes back to 1807, though that may be a charter rather than a first settlement.

How it began: Wikidata (CC0).

Homes by age

Prince George’s building boom came from 1961 to 1980: 51% of its homes

More than half of Prince George’s housing predates 1981. Few of Prince George’s homes date from 2001 to 2015: 9%, the norm 15%. 25% of Prince George’s homes were built from 1981 to 2000, close to the typical town’s 23%.

11%

Before 1961

51%

1961–80

25%

1981–2000

2001–15

4.5%

2016–21

Prince GeorgeTypical 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

How Prince George compares with 16 towns its size

Towns of 75,600 to 97,600 residents, by places on the registers.

Prince George0

12 have more. Their median is 3. 4 of them have nothing on the registers.

Neighbours

Prince George and its neighbours

Town	People	Oldest
Prince George	85,944	—
Electoral Area D, Fraser-Fort George	4,802	—
Electoral Area A, Fraser-Fort George	3,764	—
Electoral Area C, Fraser-Fort George	3,811	—
Electoral Area F, Fraser-Fort George	1,402	—

In brief

Prince George in brief

Little of its housing was standing by 1961: 11%, against 18% in the typical town. For its size the list is short: the typical town has 3 historic places.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

Protection. National historic designation honours a place but binds only federal owners; a private building’s protection depends on its province or municipality.
The federal register. Federal places come from Parks Canada’s directory, which counts National Historic Sites, federal heritage buildings, stations and lighthouses; their statements are the register’s own.
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.
People and events. Persons of national historic significance come with no location; a town gets one only by birthplace (name and both life years agreeing) or by one of its own places that bears the name and whose record tells the story. Events, which can’t be tied, are left out.
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.

Questions about Prince George’s history

How old are the homes in Prince George?

11% predate 1961, where 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.

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).