LocalMunicipally Registered Property · 1850Zoé Vallé Memorial LibraryPhoto: Hantsheroes · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
Zoé Vallé Memorial Library · Photo: Hantsheroes · CC BY-SA 3.01historic place on the registers
History of Chester · Canada’s heritage registers
The registers record 1 historic place in Chester
Zoé Vallé Memorial Library, from 1850, is Chester’s municipally registered property. For every 10,000 residents Chester has 0.9, ahead of 78% of Canadian towns. Behind these stand 33 more local or provincial listings that only Wikidata records.
Historic places
1
0.9 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
0
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Provincial and local listings
1
provincial and municipal listings with an encyclopedia article
Oldest building
1850
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
29%
typical town: 18%
The map
Where Chester’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Provincial and local listings
Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.
The 1, by tier
1 Provincial and local listings
What the map shows is the open record: the federal directory in full, and from provincial or municipal lists only the places Wikidata ties to an encyclopedia article.
Points from Wikidata (Parks Canada’s files carry none) and from Québec’s register, as mapped there.
Provincial and local listings
One local listing in Chester
Provincial and municipal listings that Wikidata records and an encyclopedia describes. Each one opens its own page.
Around the town
The registers find 7 places within 25 km of Chester
Lunenburg Academy, 24 km off, is the nearest of 4 top-tier places. The nearest is East Ironbound Combined Lighthouse and Dwelling, 23 km away in Lunenburg. Oldest of them is Old Town Lunenburg Historic District (1753), 24 km off.
The 7 nearest, within 25 km
| East Ironbound Combined Lighthouse and DwellingRecognized Federal Heritage Building · 23 km away, in Lunenburg |
| Lunenburg AcademyNational Historic Site · 1894–1896 · 24 km away, in Lunenburg |
| Zion Evangelical Lutheran ChurchMunicipally Registered Property · 1891 · 24 km away, in Lunenburg |
| St. John's Anglican ChurchNational Historic Site · 1754–1764 · 24 km away, in Lunenburg |
| St. Andrew's Presbyterian ChurchMunicipally Registered Property · 1828 · 24 km away, in Lunenburg |
| Knaut-Rhuland HouseNational Historic Site · 1793–1794 · 24 km away, in Lunenburg |
| Old Town Lunenburg Historic DistrictNational Historic Site · 1753–1992 · 24 km away, in Lunenburg |
Homes by age
29% of Chester’s homes are older than 1961, against a usual 18%
From 2016 to 2021 Chester added 3.2% of its homes, less than the typical town’s 4.1%. More than half of Chester’s housing predates 1981. In Chester, 25% of homes date from 1961 to 1980, much as in most towns (27%).
29%
Before 1961
25%
1961–80
28%
1981–2000
15%
2001–15
3.2%
2016–21
ChesterTypical 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
Donald O. Hebb, and 5 more early lives from Chester
Of the 6, 4 were born in the decades after Confederation. Before 1914, 6 births here made the record. It starts with Mather Byles DesBrisay, born in 1828. Marjory Miller reached 93, the longest life here, ending in 2005.
Mather Byles DesBrisay
David Costley
Donald O. Hebb
R. Clifford Levy
Maurice L. Zinck
Marjory Miller
1800182518501875190019251950
DH
Donald O. Hebb1904–1985 · Canadian neuroscientist
MM
Marjory Miller1912–2005 · Canadian alpine skier
RL
R. Clifford Levy1905–1971 · Canadian judge and politician
MD
Mather Byles DesBrisay1828–1900 · Canadian politician
DC
David Costley1837–1923 · Canadian bear hunter
MZ
Maurice L. Zinck1911–1988 · Canadian politician
Everyone born in Chester → 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
Chester has the 4th most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 11,600 to 11,900 residents, by places on the registers.
Chester1
Ahead of it: Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot, Clearwater County and Mont-Tremblant. The typical town its size has 0. For 12, the registers list nothing.
Neighbours
Chester and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | 11,740 | 1 | 0 | 1850 |
| Mahone Bay | 1,200 | 0 | 0 | — |
In brief
Chester in brief
Housing in Chester includes 29% built before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. There are 1 historic place in all. Of the 16 towns closest in size, just 3 have more historic places. Of its people of the past, the best known are Donald O. Hebb (1904), Marjory Miller (1912) and R. Clifford Levy (1905).
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.
- The grade. History is described, not graded, for every Canadian town.
- 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.
- 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.
- Map points. Where a federal place sits on the map is Wikidata’s placing; the directory itself has no coordinates.
- 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.
Questions about Chester’s history
How many historic places does Chester have on the registers?
1 historic place inside Chester, by the federal, Québec and Wikidata-known registers.
What is the oldest building in Chester?
By its record, Zoé Vallé Memorial Library, from 1850 (Municipally Registered Property).
How old are the homes in Chester?
29% of its homes were built before 1961, against 18% in the typical Canadian town.
Why might a heritage building in Chester be missing here?
Provincial and municipal registers outside Québec aren’t open data. Wikidata knows 33 more listings in Chester, but without an open description or an encyclopedia article they get no page.
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).