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Nain, NL as viewed from Mt. SophiePhoto: Chaughten · CC BY-SA 3.0
2historic places on the registers
History of Nain · Canada’s heritage registers

Nain: 2 historic places, one with the highest designation

The record has a provincial or municipal listing. The typical town keeps 18% of its homes from before 1961; here it is 4.1%. Wikidata knows one more provincial or municipal listing here that gets no page, lacking an open statement or an encyclopedia article.

1highest designation
Historic places
2
Highest designations
1
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Provincial and local listings
1
provincial and municipal listings with an encyclopedia article
Homes built before 1961
4.1%
typical town: 18%
How it began

Nain’s beginnings, from 1771

Nain was founded in 1771 by Jens Haven. That was 255 years ago.

How it began: Wikidata (CC0); dates read from English Wikipedia’s article “Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador”, revision 1376882085 (CC BY-SA 4.0), and stated in our own words.

The map

Where Nain’s history is

Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.

Richard (Dick) White’s Trading Post · Registered heritage structure
Provincial and local listings

Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.

The 2, by tier
1 Highest designations1 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. One place, placed by its register’s municipality, has no point and isn’t on the map.

Highest designations

One place in Nain with the highest designation

National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. Each one opens its own page.

Provincial and local listings

On a provincial or local list in Nain: one place

Provincial and municipal listings that Wikidata records and an encyclopedia describes. Each one opens its own page.

Homes by age

New homes stand out in Nain: 10% from 2016–21, where most towns have 4.1%

Half of the homes standing in Nain today were built before 2001. Nain has an unusual share of homes built from 2001 to 2015: 39%, where most towns have 15%. Few of Nain’s homes date from 1961 to 1980: 12%, the norm 27%.

4.1%
Before 1961
12%
1961–80
39%
1981–2000
39%
2001–15
10%
2016–21
NainTypical town

2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.

In brief

Nain in brief

Canada’s heritage lists give Nain 2 historic places, one with the highest designation, Kitjigattalik - Ramah Chert Quarries among them. Pre-1961 homes are a small part of its stock: 4.1%, against 18% in the typical town. Beyond that, its designation dates from 2014.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • 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.
  • 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 grade. History is described, not graded, for every Canadian town.
  • Provincial and municipal lists. Provincial and municipal listings here come from Wikidata alone, since the provinces’ own registers can’t be reused; a listing needs an encyclopedia article to get a page.
  • The federal register. Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations lists every National Historic Site, federal heritage building, heritage railway station and lighthouse; the Canadian Register of Historic Places adds their statements in English and French.
  • Map points. Where a federal place sits on the map is Wikidata’s placing; the directory itself has no coordinates.
  • People and events. The open directory puts its national historic persons nowhere, so a town shows one only on firm ground: a birth there, matched by name and life years, or a historic place there named for the person whose record says so. Events are left out.

Questions about Nain’s history

Which places in Nain have the highest designation?

It is Kitjigattalik - Ramah Chert Quarries.

How old are the homes in Nain?

4.1% predate 1961, where the typical town has 18%.

Why might a heritage building in Nain be missing here?

Its province’s and council’s own lists can’t be reused here; one further listing in Nain shows up only as a Wikidata number.

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).