TopNational Historic Site · 1898–1902Rossland Court House2288 Columbia StreetPhoto: Lewis Macpherson Roberts · Public domain · Commons file
Photo: Michael Rogers. Original uploader was Mjrogers50 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.02historic places on the registers
History of Rossland · Canada’s heritage registers
In Rossland, 47% of homes go back before 1961
The typical town has 18%: Rossland has 2.7 times the share. The registers list 2 historic places inside the town, every one with the highest designation. Per resident it outdoes 94% of Canadian towns, with 4.6 for every 10,000 people. Its oldest building on the record is Miners' Union Hall, from 1898.
Historic places
2
4.6 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
2
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Oldest building
1898
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
47%
typical town: 18%
In pictures
Rossland in pictures
Among Rossland’s highest-designated places, one has a photo. Only Rossland Court House has a photo here; the rest of Rossland’s places show their record.
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
Rossland as it looked, 1900 to 1928
Here in time order: 4 old photographs of the town, along with the oldest view of one of its historic places. Every picture opens full screen, credit and all.
c. 1900
c. 1900
c. 1900
1909
1928Public 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.
The map
Where Rossland’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designations
Tap any dot to open that place’s own page; hovering shows its name.
The 2, by tier
2 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
2 places in Rossland with the highest designation
They include Miners' Union Hall and Rossland Court House. National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. Designations came from 1980 to 2019. Each one opens its own page.
National Historic Site · 1898–1899Miners' Union Hall1765 Columbia Avenue
Around the town
Top-ranked heritage near Rossland: one place within 50 km
They are 2 heritage railway stations and a National Historic Site. The earliest date is “Canadian Pacific Railway Station, Grand Forks, British Columbia”’s, 1900, 49 km away. Nearest comes Doukhobor Suspension Bridge, 29 km off, in Castlegar.
The 3 nearest, within 50 km
| Doukhobor Suspension BridgeNational Historic Site · 1913–1914 · 29 km away, in Castlegar |
| Burlington Northern Railway Station, Salmo, British ColumbiaHeritage Railway Station · 1913–1914 · 40 km away, in Salmo |
| Canadian Pacific Railway Station, Grand Forks, British ColumbiaHeritage Railway Station · 1900–1901 · 49 km away, in Grand Forks |
Homes by age
New homes stand out in Rossland: 6.1% from 2016–21, where most towns have 4.1%
Rossland built little from 1981 to 2000: 13% of its homes, where most towns have 23%. More than half of Rossland’s housing predates 1981. Homes built from 1961 to 1980 make up 22% of Rossland’s, about the typical 27%.
47%
Before 1961
22%
1961–80
13%
1981–2000
12%
2001–15
6.1%
2016–21
RosslandTypical 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
Before 1914, Rossland gave 3 lives to the record
The last born is Cedric Cox, in 1913. Fame, by Wikipedia: Phyllis Ross first, in 3 languages. In 1903 came the earliest, Phyllis Ross. Of them all, Leo Nimsick lived longest: 91 years, until 1999.
Phyllis Ross
Leo Nimsick
Cedric Cox
190019251950
PR
Phyllis Ross1903–1988 · Canadian economist
CC
Cedric Cox1913–1993 · British Columbia political figure
Leo Nimsick1908–1999 · Canadian politician
Everyone born in Rossland → Born before 1914 (the page’s periods: Confederation to the First World War). Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s Wikipedia article.
Towns its size
Rossland has the 2nd most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 4,300 to 4,400 residents, by places on the registers.
Rossland2
Just one has more: Prescott. The middle one has 0. 12 of them have none.
Neighbours
Rossland and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rossland | 4,355 | 2 | 2 | 1898 |
| Warfield | 1,729 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Trail | 8,539 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Montrose | 1,072 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Electoral Area B (Lower Columbia-Old-Glory), Kootenay Boundary | 1,432 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Fruitvale | 2,068 | 0 | 0 | — |
In brief
Rossland in brief
In Rossland, 47% of homes were built before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. In all there are 2 historic places, 2 with the highest designation. Only one of the 16 towns nearest its size has more historic places. Phyllis Ross (1903), Cedric Cox (1913) and Leo Nimsick (1908) are the town’s people of the past on the record. Everything else is close to the norm: its places were designated between 1980 and 2019.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- The grade. This page gives no grade; history doesn’t count toward a Canadian town’s letter.
- 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.
- 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 tiers. The highest designations are National Historic Sites, Classified Federal Heritage Buildings and Québec’s classements; then come the other federal designations; then provincial and local listings.
- 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.
- Map points. Parks Canada publishes no coordinates, so federal places are pinned where Wikidata puts them.
Questions about Rossland’s history
How old are the homes in Rossland?
Before 1961: 47% of its homes; the typical town has 18%.
Which places in Rossland have the highest designation?
These: Miners' Union Hall and Rossland Court House.
What is the oldest building in Rossland?
By its record, Miners' Union Hall, from 1898 (National Historic Site).
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).