Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Before 1961: 52% of the homes in Oxford
Oxford’s share is 3 times the typical 18%. Springhill Coal Mining, 18 km from Oxford, heads a list of 29 historic places within 50 km. For the highest designations, the closest town is Cumberland County, Subdivision C, 20 km off. Wikidata’s date for the municipality is 1791; it may record a founding, an incorporation or an amalgamation.
The places within 50 km of Oxford lean to the decades after Confederation
The area here stretches to 50 km around Oxford: each historic place by the first construction date it records.
The oldest is Beaubassin in Cumberland County, Subdivision C, from 1671. Within 50 km, 27 records give a date. 9 go back before 1867.
Within 50 km of Oxford: 29 places on the registers
They belong to 10 towns, chiefly Westmorland, Cumberland County, Subdivision C and Amherst. Closest of all is Springhill Coal Mining, in Springhill, 18 km off. The mix: 10 National Historic Sites, 8 provincial or municipal listings and 5 Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings.
The 12 nearest, within 50 km
| Springhill Coal MiningNational Historic Site · 1873–1874 · 18 km away, in Springhill |
| Thinkers' LodgeNational Historic Site · 1800–1900 · 21 km away, in Cumberland County, Subdivision D |
| Pugwash railway stationMunicipally Registered Property · 1892 · 21 km away, in Cumberland County, Subdivision D |
| Coldspring Head LighthouseHeritage Lighthouse · 1889 · 25 km away, in Cumberland County, Subdivision C |
| ArmouryRecognized Federal Heritage Building · 1915–1916 · 28 km away, in Amherst |
| VIA Rail/Canadian National Railways Station, Amherst, Nova ScotiaHeritage Railway Station · 1907–1909 · 28 km away, in Amherst |
| Trinity St. Stephen's United ChurchMunicipally Registered Property · 1906 · 28 km away, in Amherst |
| 66 Victoria Street EastMunicipally Registered Property · 1895 · 28 km away, in Amherst |
| Nappan Experimental Farm, Cereal Forage Building #29Recognized Federal Heritage Building · 1935–1936 · 28 km away, in Springhill |
| Building 16Recognized Federal Heritage Building · 1892–1893 · 28 km away, in Springhill |
| Tidnish Dock Provincial ParkProvincially Registered Property · 1982 · 31 km away, in Cumberland County, Subdivision C |
| Fort LawrenceNational Historic Site · 1750–1751 · 32 km away, in Cumberland County, Subdivision C |
Oxford added no homes from 2016 to 2021, where most towns have 4.1%
More than half of Oxford’s housing predates 1961. Few of Oxford’s homes date from 1981 to 2000: 13%, the norm 23%. Homes built from 2001 to 2015 make up just 10% of Oxford’s, against 15% in the typical town.
2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.
Oxford in brief
Oxford has 52% of its homes from before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. The other figures are unremarkable: its past has one life on the record, Margaret Frame (1903).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The grade. This page gives no grade; history doesn’t count toward a Canadian town’s letter.
- 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.
- Provincial and municipal lists. The local and provincial lists outside Québec aren’t published openly, so this page counts what Wikidata records and pages only the places an encyclopedia describes.
- 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.
- 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. National historic designation honours a place but binds only federal owners; a private building’s protection depends on its province or municipality.
Questions about Oxford’s history
How many historic places does Oxford have on the registers?
Not within Oxford. Its nearest is a top designation: Springhill Coal Mining, 18 km away in Springhill.
When did Oxford become a municipality?
Wikidata dates the municipality of Oxford to 1791. That can be its founding, its incorporation or a later merger.
How old are the homes in Oxford?
The 2021 Census dates 52% of its homes before 1961 (18% in the typical town).
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).