TopNational Historic Site · 1750–1751Fort Edward67 Fort Edward StreetPhoto: Hantsheroes · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
Fort Edward · Photo: Hantsheroes · CC BY-SA 3.06historic places on the registers
History of Windsor · Canada’s heritage registers
Blockhouse, from 1750, is Windsor’s oldest designated place
Windsor has kept more old homes than most towns: 32% were built before 1961, against 18%. The lists give 6 historic places here, 3 in the top tier. Scaled to its population, 3 per 10,000 residents beats 90% of Canadian towns. Among the places are 2 provincial or municipal listings and a heritage railway station.
Historic places
6
3 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
3
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Other federal designations
1
Recognized buildings, railway stations, lighthouses
Provincial and local listings
2
provincial and municipal listings with an encyclopedia article
Oldest building
1750
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
32%
typical town: 18%
In pictures
All 3 top-tier places in Windsor, pictured
The photos cover every place on Windsor’s registers. On their own pages, 2 of Windsor’s places show how they once looked. To start: Fort Edward, and King's College.
King's College
Old Parish Burying Ground
Canadian Pacific Railway Station, Hantsport, Nova Scotia
Haliburton House+1See all photosPhotos 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
Windsor, 1753 to 1910
Here in time order: the oldest views of 2 of its historic places. Pick a dot to see the year; pick a picture to see it large.
c. 1753
c. 1910Public 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.
How old
In Windsor, the years of New France left the most behind
Each place by the first construction date on its record.
New France before 17602
British North America 1760–18662
After Confederation 1867–19130
Wars and Depression 1914–19451
Since 1946 1946 on0
4 of the 5 dated places were built before Confederation.
The map
Where Windsor’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designationsOther federal designationsProvincial and local listings
Each dot is a place: point at it for the name, tap it for its page.
The 6, by tier
3 Highest designations1 Other federal designations2 Provincial and local listings
Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations lists the places the Government of Canada has recognized; outside Québec, provincial and municipal listings come only through Wikidata, and only those with an encyclopedia article get a page.
Points from Wikidata (Parks Canada’s files carry none) and from Québec’s register, as mapped there.
Highest designations
3 places in Windsor with the highest designation
They date from 1750 (Fort Edward) to 1791. The group holds 2 National Historic Sites and a Classified Federal Heritage Building. National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. Each one opens its own page.
TopNational Historic Site · 1791–1864King's College1 College StreetPhoto: Verne Equinox · CC BY 3.0 · Commons file
Classified Federal Heritage Building · 1750–1751BlockhouseFort PisquidPhoto: Hantsheroes · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
Other federal designations
Federal heritage in Windsor: one more place
Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings, heritage railway stations and lighthouses. Each one opens its own page.
FedHeritage Railway Station · 1943–1944Canadian Pacific Railway Station, Hantsport, Nova Scotia15 Station StreetPhoto: Verne Equinox · CC BY 3.0 · Commons file
What’s designated
In Windsor, forts and military buildings lead the list (33%)
The record covers 5 kinds of building and site. Leading by designation: Fort Edward and King's College.
Forts and military buildings2
Stations, lighthouses and bridges1
Houses1
Public buildings1
Other places1
Grouped by what each register says the place is or was; a converted building counts as what it was built for.
Provincial and local listings
2 more places Windsor or its province protects
Provincial and municipal listings that Wikidata records and an encyclopedia describes. Among them: Haliburton House and Old Parish Burying Ground. Each one opens its own page.
LocalProvincially Registered Property · 1836Haliburton HousePhoto: Verne Equinox · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons file
LocalMunicipally Registered PropertyOld Parish Burying GroundPhoto: Moksapath · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
Homes by age
32% of Windsor’s homes were built before 1961
Half of the homes standing in Windsor today were built before 1981. Homes built from 2016 to 2021 are 4.8% of Windsor’s, about the typical 4.1%. 27% of Windsor’s homes were built from 1961 to 1980, close to the typical town’s 27%.
32%
Before 1961
27%
1961–80
23%
1981–2000
14%
2001–15
4.8%
2016–21
WindsorTypical 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
Windsor’s 3 persons of national historic significance, and others
The years before Confederation gave 17 of the 23. 23 people on the record were born here before 1914. In 1764 came the earliest, William Cottnam Tonge. Best known is George Lawrence Price, with articles in 19 Wikipedia languages. The timeline keeps to the 20 best known.
William Cottnam Tonge
Robert Christie
Thomas Chandler Haliburton
Jeremiah Northup
Amor De Cosmos
Matthew Henry Richey
Robert Grant Haliburton
Arthur Haliburton, 1st Baron Haliburton
John Young Payzant
William Henry Allison
Thomas Barlow Smith
William Anderson Black
Charles Frederick Fraser
Lewis Alfred Mounce
Rufus Curry
James O'Brien
H. Percy Blanchard
Blaine Sexton
George Lawrence Price
George Henry Wilson
175017751800182518501875190019251950
George Lawrence Price1892–1918 · Canadian soldier
TH
Thomas Chandler Haliburton1796–1865 · National historic person, 1936 · Nova Scotian politician, judge, and …
BS
Blaine Sexton1891–1966 · Ice hockey player
Amor De Cosmos1825–1897 · National historic person, 1938 · Canadian photographer and politician
Matthew Henry Richey1828–1911 · Canadian politician
Robert Grant Haliburton1831–1901 · Canadian lawyer and anthropologist
WA
William Henry Allison1838–1934 · Canadian politician
WB
William Anderson Black1847–1934 · Canadian politician
Everyone born in Windsor → 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
Windsor has the 3rd most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 20,100 to 20,600 residents, by places on the registers.
Windsor6
Only Niagara-on-the-Lake and Westmount have more. The middle one has 1. 7 of them have none.
Neighbours
Windsor and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windsor | 20,318 | 6 | 3 | 1750 |
| Kings County, Subdivision D | 6,517 | 4 | 4 | 1680 |
In brief
Windsor in brief
Before 1961: 32% of Windsor’s homes, against 18% in the typical town. The lists come to 6 historic places, 3 with the highest designation. Just 2 towns of its size, out of 16, have more historic places. Of its people of the past, the best known are George Lawrence Price (1892), Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796) and Blaine Sexton (1891). For the rest, the designations ran from 1920 to 1994.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 grade. This page gives no grade; history doesn’t count toward a Canadian town’s letter.
- 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.
- 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. Parks Canada publishes no coordinates, so federal places are pinned where Wikidata puts them.
Questions about Windsor’s history
What is the oldest building in Windsor?
Blockhouse — its record dates it to 1750 (Classified Federal Heritage Building).
Which places in Windsor have the highest designation?
They are Fort Edward, King's College and Blockhouse.
How old are the homes in Windsor?
32% of its homes were built before 1961, against 18% in the typical Canadian town.
Why might a heritage building in Windsor be missing here?
Its province’s and council’s own lists can’t be reused here; 11 further listings in Windsor 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).