National Historic SiteBedford Petroglyphs
Photo: Robert Alfers · Public domain2historic places on the registers
History of Bedford · Canada’s heritage registers
Bedford: 2 historic places, one with the highest designation
On the list: a provincial or municipal listing. Its housing is mostly newer: 5.7% predates 1961, where the typical town has 18%. Relative to its size Bedford has 0.7 per 10,000 residents, more than 77% of Canadian towns. 2 further listings on provincial or municipal registers are known only through Wikidata, so they have no page of their own.
Historic places
2
0.7 per 10,000 residents
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
5.7%
typical town: 18%
In pictures
Places to see in Bedford
Among Bedford’s designated places, only Scott Manor House has a photo here.
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.
The map
Where Bedford’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designationsProvincial and local listings
Each dot is a place: point at it for the name, tap it for its page.
The 2, by tier
1 Highest designations1 Provincial and local listings
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.
Highest designations
One place in Bedford 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
One more place Bedford or its province protects
Provincial and municipal listings that Wikidata records and an encyclopedia describes. Each one opens its own page.
LocalProvincially Registered PropertyScott Manor HousePhoto: Nova Scotia Information Service · Public domain · Commons file
The age of the area
The 10 km around Bedford keep buildings from as early as 1746
The area, not the town: places within 10 km of Bedford, dated by the first construction year on their records.
New France before 17601
British North America 1760–18664
After Confederation 1867–19131
Wars and Depression 1914–19456
Since 1946 1946 on1
The earliest is D'Anville's Encampment in Clayton Park West, begun in 1746. Within 10 km, building dates exist for 13 places. 5 go back before 1867.
Around the town
Within 10 km of Bedford, 5 top designations
Count to 10 km and there are 13. Fultz House in Lower Sackville is the nearest, 4.1 km away. Among them are 6 Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings, 4 National Historic Sites and 2 provincial or municipal listings.
The 12 nearest, within 10 km
| Fultz HouseMunicipally Registered Property · 1865 · 4.1 km away, in Lower Sackville |
| D'Anville's EncampmentNational Historic Site · 1746 · 5.6 km away, in Clayton Park West |
| Van Steenburgh and Polaris Buildings at The Bedford Institute of OceanographyRecognized Federal Heritage Building · 1962–1963 · 6.8 km away, in Austinville |
| AfricvilleNational Historic Site · 1830 · 7 km away, in Windsor Park |
| Building No. 4Recognized Federal Heritage Building · 1916–1917 · 8.9 km away, in Austinville |
| Hydrostone DistrictNational Historic Site · 1917 · 9 km away, in North End |
| Halifax ForumMunicipally Registered Property · 1927 · 9.3 km away, in North End |
| Wellington HouseClassified Federal Heritage Building · 1852–1861 · 9.4 km away, in North End |
| Carall Building S-17Recognized Federal Heritage Building · 1941–1945 · 9.4 km away, in North End |
| Murray Building (S-15)Recognized Federal Heritage Building · 1941–1944 · 9.5 km away, in North End |
| Currie Building, S37Recognized Federal Heritage Building · 1942–1943 · 9.5 km away, in North End |
| Admiralty HouseNational Historic Site · 1815–1820 · 9.6 km away, in North End |
Homes by age
A growing town: 21% of Bedford’s homes went up from 2016 to 2021, against 4.1%
28% of Bedford’s homes were built from 2001 to 2015, more than the typical town’s 15%. Homes built from 1961 to 1980 make up just 12% of Bedford’s, against 27% in the typical town. Bedford’s largest group of homes, 32%, went up from 1981 to 2000.
5.7%
Before 1961
12%
1961–80
32%
1981–2000
28%
2001–15
21%
2016–21
BedfordTypical 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
Bedford has the 4th most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 28,300 to 29,200 residents, by places on the registers.
Bedford2
Ahead of it: Montagne, Du Plateau and Collingwood. The typical town its size has 0. For 10, the registers list nothing.
Neighbours
Bedford and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | 28,848 | 2 | 1 | — |
| Clayton Park West | 34,404 | 1 | 1 | 1746 |
| Lower Sackville | 20,171 | 1 | 0 | 1865 |
| Fairview | 16,296 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Mount Royale | 9,340 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Timberlea | 11,014 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Middle Sackville | 14,898 | 0 | 0 | — |
In brief
Bedford in brief
The registers count 2 historic places in Bedford, one with the highest designation, Bedford Petroglyphs first. Only 3 of the 16 towns nearest its size have more historic places. Few of its homes are old, 5.7% before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. For the rest, Harry DeWolf (1903) is its person of the past on the record; and its one place was designated in 1994.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Map points. Pins for federal places come from Wikidata rather than Parks Canada, which gives no points.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about Bedford’s history
Which places in Bedford have the highest designation?
Just one: Bedford Petroglyphs.
How old are the homes in Bedford?
5.7% predate 1961, where the typical town has 18%.
Why might a heritage building in Bedford be missing here?
Its province’s and council’s own lists can’t be reused here; 2 further listings in Bedford 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).