LocalMunicipally Registered Property · 1839Cape Forchu LighthousePhoto: James Somers · Public domain · Commons file
Cape Forchu Lighthouse · Photo: James Somers · Public domain2historic places on the registers
History of Yarmouth · Canada’s heritage registers
Yarmouth’s past, on the record: 2 historic places
Cape Forchu Lighthouse, begun in 1839, is the oldest in Yarmouth by its record. The municipality’s date on Wikidata is April 17, 1879: a founding, an incorporation or an amalgamation, the record doesn’t say which. Per resident Yarmouth has more than 85% of Canadian towns: 1.9 for every 10,000 people. Among the places are 2 provincial or municipal listings.
Historic places
2
1.9 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
0
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Provincial and local listings
2
provincial and municipal listings with an encyclopedia article
Oldest building
1839
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
31%
typical town: 18%
The map
Where Yarmouth’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Provincial and local listings
Names show on hover, and a tap takes you to the place’s page.
The 2, by tier
2 Provincial and local listings
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.
Provincial and local listings
2 more places Yarmouth or its province protects
Provincial and municipal listings that Wikidata records and an encyclopedia describes. Among them: Cape Forchu Lighthouse and Chebogue Cemetery. Each one opens its own page.
Municipally Registered PropertyChebogue Cemetery
Around the town
4 historic places within 25 km of Yarmouth
They are spread over 3 towns, including Argyle, Yarmouth and Clare. Closest of all is Yarmouth County Museum & Archives, in Yarmouth, 8 km off. Oldest of them is Argyle Township Court House and Gaol (1802), 11 km off.
The 4 nearest, within 25 km
| Yarmouth County Museum & ArchivesMunicipally Registered Property · 1935 · 8 km away, in Yarmouth |
| Argyle Township Court House and GaolNational Historic Site · 1802–1806 · 11 km away, in Argyle |
| Sainte Anne's Catholic ChurchMunicipally Registered Property · 1901 · 15 km away, in Argyle |
| Cape St. Marys LighthouseHeritage Lighthouse · 1969 · 22 km away, in Clare |
Homes by age
New homes are rare in Yarmouth: 2% from 2016–21, against a usual 4.1%
Homes from before 1961 make up 31% of Yarmouth’s housing; the typical town has 18%. The busiest building years in Yarmouth were from 1961 to 1980, which account for 31% of today’s homes. Few of Yarmouth’s homes date from 2001 to 2015: 10%, the norm 15%.
31%
Before 1961
31%
1961–80
26%
1981–2000
10%
2001–15
2%
2016–21
YarmouthTypical 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
8 Yarmouth births on record from before 1914
Fame, by Wikipedia: Maud Lewis first, in 24 languages. Thomas Corning comes first, born in 1842. The most recent birth is Lawrence Walsh’s, in 1912. Of the 8, 6 were born in the decades after Confederation.
Thomas Corning
Charles Cahan
Sara Corning
Paul Hatfield
Howard Corning
Maud Lewis
Marguerite Porter Zwicker
Lawrence Walsh
1800182518501875190019251950
Maud Lewis1903–1970 · Canadian artist
Lawrence Walsh1912–2014 · United States federal judge
Sara Corning1872–1969
CC
Charles Cahan1861–1944 · Canadian politician
Paul Hatfield1873–1935 · Canadian politician
HC
Howard Corning1879–1924 · Canadian politician
TC
Thomas Corning1842–1912 · Canadian politician
MZ
Marguerite Porter Zwicker1904–1993 · Canadian artist and art promoter
Everyone born in Yarmouth → 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
Yarmouth has the 2nd most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 10,500 to 10,700 residents, by places on the registers.
Yarmouth2
Only Eastern Passage has more. The typical town its size has 0. 11 of them have nothing on the registers.
Neighbours
Yarmouth and its neighbours
In brief
Yarmouth in brief
Housing in Yarmouth includes 31% built before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. All told, the registers hold 2 historic places. Of the 16 towns closest in size, just one has more historic places. Its people of the past include Maud Lewis (1903), Lawrence Walsh (1912) and Sara Corning (1872).
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Provincial and municipal lists. Outside Québec, provinces’ and municipalities’ heritage registers aren’t open data; their places are known only through Wikidata items with a register number, and only those with an encyclopedia article get a page.
- Protection. National historic designation honours a place but binds only federal owners; a private building’s protection depends on its province or municipality.
- 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. Federal places get their map points from Wikidata, since Parks Canada’s files carry none; they are as mapped there.
- The grade. There is no history grade: the page sets out the record and compares it with other towns.
- 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.
- The tiers. Tiers follow the designation: national recognition and classement first, other federal designations next, provincial and local listings last.
Questions about Yarmouth’s history
How many historic places does Yarmouth have on the registers?
2 historic places inside Yarmouth, by the federal, Québec and Wikidata-known registers.
How old are the homes in Yarmouth?
Before 1961: 31% of its homes; the typical town has 18%.
What is the oldest building in Yarmouth?
Cape Forchu Lighthouse — its record dates it to 1839 (Municipally Registered Property).
Why might a heritage building in Yarmouth be missing here?
Only federal designations are fully open outside Québec. 29 more listings in Yarmouth are known through Wikidata alone, so they are counted, not paged.
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).