National Historic SiteNova Scotia Coal Fields
Photo: Ann Baekken · CC BY 2.01historic place on the registers
History of Stellarton · Canada’s heritage registers
Stellarton keeps its older homes: 43% from before 1961
Against 18% in the typical town, Stellarton has 2.4 times the share. Inside the town there is 1 historic place, a top designation. Measured against its size, 2.4 per 10,000 residents puts it ahead of 87% of Canadian towns.
Historic places
1
2.4 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
1
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Homes built before 1961
43%
typical town: 18%
The map
Where Stellarton’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
The 1, by tier
1 Highest designations
Most entries are federal, from Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations; local listings outside Québec are known only through Wikidata items with an article.
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 Stellarton with the highest designation
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. Each one opens its own page.
The age of the area
Within 50 km of Stellarton, the dated places belong mostly to the decades after Confederation
The area here stretches to 50 km around Stellarton: each historic place by the first construction date it records.
British North America 1760–18661
After Confederation 1867–19133
Wars and Depression 1914–19450
Since 1946 1946 on2
The bars count 6 dated places within 50 km. One is older than 1867. Pictou Academy, in Pictou, is the oldest (1818).
Around the town
The closest heritage to Stellarton is Government of Canada Building, 2.9 km off
For the highest designations, the nearest of 2 is Pictou Railway Station (Intercolonial), 13 km away. 7 places lie within 50 km. The mix: 4 provincial or municipal listings, 2 National Historic Sites and a Recognized Federal Heritage Building.
The 7 nearest, within 50 km
| Government of Canada BuildingRecognized Federal Heritage Building · 1961–1962 · 2.9 km away, in New Glasgow |
| Pictou Railway Station (Intercolonial)National Historic Site · 1904–1905 · 13 km away, in Pictou |
| Pictou AcademyNational Historic Site · 1818–1819 · 14 km away, in Pictou |
| McCulloch House MuseumProvincially Registered Property · 14 km away, in Pictou |
| Sutherland Steam Mill MuseumProvincially Registered Property · 1958 · 42 km away, in Colchester County, Subdivision B |
| Balmoral Grist Mill MuseumProvincially Registered Property · 1874 · 42 km away, in Colchester County, Subdivision B |
| Wood Islands LighthouseDesignated heritage place · 1876 · 44 km away, in Belfast |
Homes by age
Stellarton added few homes from 2016 to 2021: 0.8%, where most towns have 4.1%
Stellarton built little from 1981 to 2000: 18% of its homes, where most towns have 23%. Homes built from 2001 to 2015 make up just 5.6% of Stellarton’s, against 15% in the typical town. Half of the homes standing in Stellarton today were built before 1981.
43%
Before 1961
32%
1961–80
18%
1981–2000
5.6%
2001–15
0.8%
2016–21
StellartonTypical 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
Stellarton’s past in lives: one nationally designated
It starts with George Monro Grant, born in 1835. 5 people on the record were born here before 1914. Of them all, Charles Fraser lived longest: 73 years, until 1970. Best known is George Monro Grant, with articles in 4 Wikipedia languages.
George Monro Grant
John Carey Douglas
James Peter Robertson
Charles Fraser
Joe Beaton
1800182518501875190019251950
George Monro Grant1835–1902 · Designated nationally in 1937 · Canadian church minister, writer, and…
JD
John Carey Douglas1874–1926 · Canadian politician
JR
James Peter Robertson1883–1917 · Recipient of the Victoria Cross
CF
Charles Fraser1897–1970 · Canadian ice hockey defenceman
JB
Joe Beaton1910–1965 · Ice hockey player
Everyone born in Stellarton → Born before 1914. Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against Wikipedia; national historic persons from Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, matched by name and life years.
Towns its size
Stellarton has the 3rd most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 4,200 to 4,300 residents, by places on the registers.
Stellarton1
Just these have more: Victoria County, Subdivision B and East Angus. Their median is 0. 13 of them have none.
Neighbours
Stellarton and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stellarton | 4,251 | 1 | 1 | — |
| New Glasgow | 10,378 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Westville | 3,731 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Trenton | 2,499 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Pictou County, Subdivision B | 6,482 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Pictou County, Subdivision C | 8,847 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Pictou | 3,307 | 3 | 2 | 1818 |
In brief
Stellarton in brief
Older stock first: 43% of homes in Stellarton were standing by 1961, against 18% in the typical town. The lists come to 1 historic place, one with the highest designation, including Nova Scotia Coal Fields. Just 2 towns of its size, out of 16, have more historic places. Of its people of the past, the best known are George Monro Grant (1835), John Carey Douglas (1874) and James Peter Robertson (1883). For the rest, its one place was designated in 1998.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Persons of national historic significance come with no location; a town gets one only by birthplace (name and both life years agreeing) or by one of its own places that bears the name and whose record tells the story. Events, which can’t be tied, are left out.
- 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.
- The federal register. Federal places come from Parks Canada’s directory, which counts National Historic Sites, federal heritage buildings, stations and lighthouses; their statements are the register’s own.
- The grade. This page gives no grade; history doesn’t count toward a Canadian town’s letter.
- 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.
Questions about Stellarton’s history
How old are the homes in Stellarton?
The 2021 Census dates 43% of its homes before 1961 (18% in the typical town).
Which places in Stellarton have the highest designation?
It is Nova Scotia Coal Fields.
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).