FedHeritage Lighthouse · 1905–1906Bear River LighthouseEvangeline TrailPhoto: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons file
Boars Head Lighthouse · Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.03historic places on the registers
History of Digby · Canada’s heritage registers
45% of Digby’s homes were built before 1961
Digby’s share is 2.5 times the typical 18%. Inside the town the registers count 3 historic places. Only a few towns match it per resident: 4 for every 10,000, ahead of 93% of Canadian towns. The record has 3 heritage lighthouses.
Historic places
3
4 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
0
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Other federal designations
3
Recognized buildings, railway stations, lighthouses
Oldest building
1905
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
45%
typical town: 18%
In pictures
Old and new: 3 photos and 1 old pictures of Digby
Go back furthest in Digby with Bear River Lighthouse: 1905. All of Digby’s designated places are pictured. The first two: Boars Head Lighthouse and Prim Point Lighthouse.
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
Digby, long ago
The oldest view of one of its historic places, made before 1950. It opens full screen with a tap.
1874Public 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 Digby’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Other federal designations
Dots open their places’ pages; hover first to read the name.
The 3, by tier
3 Other federal designations
The federal directory kept by Parks Canada supplies most of these places; provincial and municipal lists outside Québec aren’t open data, so only the ones Wikidata documents with an article appear.
Points from Wikidata (Parks Canada’s files carry none) and from Québec’s register, as mapped there.
Other federal designations
3 other places Canada recognizes in Digby
Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings, heritage railway stations and lighthouses. They date from 1905 (Bear River Lighthouse) to 1964. Each one opens its own page.
FedHeritage Lighthouse · 1957–1958Boars Head LighthousePhoto: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons file
FedHeritage Lighthouse · 1964Prim Point LighthouseLighthouse RoadPhoto: Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons file
Homes by age
Only 1.7% of Digby’s homes were built from 2016 to 2021 (4.1% is typical)
Few of Digby’s homes date from 2001 to 2015: 6.6%, the norm 15%. Over half of the homes in Digby were already standing by 1981. 26% of Digby’s homes were built from 1961 to 1980, close to the typical town’s 27%.
45%
Before 1961
26%
1961–80
21%
1981–2000
6.6%
2001–15
1.7%
2016–21
DigbyTypical 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
Lives begun in Digby between 1824 and 1911
6 of the 11 were born in the years before Confederation. 9 Wikipedias cover Mysterious Billy Smith, the most of anyone here. Counting only births before 1914, there are 11. Longest lived was Alfred William Savary, 89 years in all (1920).
Alfred Gilpin Jones
Alfred William Savary
Edward Charles Bowers
Thomas C. Cooney
Herbert Ladd Jones
Harry Short
Mysterious Billy Smith
Walter Eugene Clark
Robert Baden Powell
H. C. Parker
E. Keith Potter
1800182518501875190019251950
Mysterious Billy Smith1871–1937 · Canadian boxer
WC
Walter Eugene Clark1881–1960 · American philologist
AJ
Alfred Gilpin Jones1824–1906 · Canadian politician
Alfred William Savary1831–1920 · Canadian politician
EB
Edward Charles Bowers1845–1929 · Canadian politician
Herbert Ladd Jones1858–1921 · Canadian politician
HS
Harry Short1864–1937 · Canadian politician
RP
Robert Baden Powell1901–1976 · Canadian politician
Everyone born in Digby → 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
Digby has the most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 7,500 to 7,600 residents, by places on the registers.
Digby3
Their median is 0. For 11, the registers list nothing.
Neighbours
Digby and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digby | 7,528 | 3 | 0 | 1905 |
| Digby | 2,153 | 1 | 1 | 1878 |
In brief
Digby in brief
Before 1961: 45% of Digby’s homes, against 18% in the typical town. The lists come to 3 historic places. It tops the 16 towns nearest its size for historic places. Of its people of the past, the best known are Mysterious Billy Smith (1871), Walter Eugene Clark (1881) and Alfred Gilpin Jones (1824). Beyond that, all its places were designated in 2015.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- The grade. There is no history grade: the page sets out the record and compares it with other towns.
- The tiers. Tiers follow the designation: national recognition and classement first, other federal designations next, provincial and local listings last.
- Provincial and municipal lists. Only Wikidata gives open access to listings on provincial and municipal registers outside Québec; without an article such a place is counted but not paged.
- Protection. Being on these registers doesn’t mean a building can’t change. Federal designation commemorates; protection is provincial or municipal, and those lists aren’t open here.
- 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.
Questions about Digby’s history
How old are the homes in Digby?
45% of its homes were built before 1961, against 18% in the typical Canadian town.
How many historic places does Digby have on the registers?
3 historic places inside Digby, by the federal, Québec and Wikidata-known registers.
What is the oldest building in Digby?
Bear River Lighthouse, a Heritage Lighthouse, begun in 1905.
Why might a heritage building in Digby be missing here?
Its province’s and council’s own lists can’t be reused here; 27 further listings in Digby show up only as Wikidata numbers.
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).