TopNational Historic Site · 1669–1670Port StanleyJunction of Bridge, Main, Joseph and Colbourne StreetsPhoto: Yoho2001 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
Port Stanley · Photo: Yoho2001 · CC BY-SA 3.01historic place on the registers
History of Central Elgin · Canada’s heritage registers
Central Elgin keeps a building from 1669: Port Stanley
The typical town has 18% of its homes from before 1961; Central Elgin has 34%. Its 1 historic place is of the highest rank. Per resident that is more than in 76% of Canadian towns: 0.7 for every 10,000 people. Wikidata gives 1822 for the municipality, whether that is when it was founded, incorporated or merged.
Historic places
1
0.7 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
1
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Oldest building
1669
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
34%
typical town: 18%
The map
Where Central Elgin’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designations
Tap any dot to open that place’s own page; hovering shows its name.
The 1, by tier
1 Highest designations
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 Central Elgin with the highest designation
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. Each one opens its own page.
Around the town
The heritage closest to Central Elgin: “Former Canada Southern Railway Station, St. Thomas, Ontario”, at 3.2 km
Between them, 4 towns share them, mainly St. Thomas, South London and Southwold. Southwold Earthworks, 20 km off, is the oldest: 1450. The mix: 4 provincial or municipal listings, 2 National Historic Sites and a heritage railway station.
The 7 nearest, within 25 km
| Former Canada Southern Railway Station, St. Thomas, OntarioHeritage Railway Station · 1871–1874 · 3.2 km away, in St. Thomas |
| St. Thomas City HallNational Historic Site · 1898–1900 · 3.7 km away, in St. Thomas |
| Old St. Thomas ChurchOntario Heritage Trust easement · 1824 · 4.6 km away, in St. Thomas |
| Southwold EarthworksNational Historic Site · 1450–1551 · 20 km away, in Southwold |
| London Normal SchoolOntario Heritage Trust easement · 1900 · 24 km away, in South London |
| WaverleyDesignated heritage property (part IV) · 1882 · 24 km away, in South London |
| Christ Church (Anglican)Designated heritage property (part IV) · 1863 · 24 km away, in Central London |
Just outside Central Elgin: 1
| Port Stanley Breakwater LighthouseHeritage Lighthouse · 100 m outside the town |
Homes by age
Central Elgin is still building: 8.3% of homes date from 2016 to 2021, against 4.1%
Half of the homes standing in Central Elgin today were built before 1981. Building from 1961 to 1980 gave Central Elgin 25% of its homes, near the usual 27%. Homes built from 1981 to 2000 make up 20% of Central Elgin’s, about the typical 23%.
34%
Before 1961
25%
1961–80
20%
1981–2000
14%
2001–15
8.3%
2016–21
Central ElginTypical 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
Before 1914, Central Elgin gave 5 lives to the record
In 1858 came the earliest, William Jackson. Fame, by Wikipedia: Joe Knight first, in 3 languages. The last born is George Blewett, in 1873. Sarah Agnes Wintemute Coates lived longest, to 81, dying in 1945.
William Jackson
Joe Knight
Sarah Agnes Wintemute Coates
Herbert Earl Wilton
George Blewett
18501875190019251950
JK
Joe Knight1859–1938 · Canadian baseball player
HW
Herbert Earl Wilton1869–1937 · Canadian politician
GB
George Blewett1873–1912 · Canadian university professor, philosopher, and author
William Jackson1858–1938 · Canadian politician, born 1858
SC
Sarah Agnes Wintemute Coates1864–1945 · Canadian educator
Everyone born in Central Elgin → Born before 1914 (the page’s periods: Confederation to the First World War). Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s Wikipedia article.
Neighbours
Central Elgin and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Elgin | 15,230 | 1 | 1 | 1669 |
| St. Thomas | 49,388 | 4 | 1 | 1824 |
| Aylmer | 8,371 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Southwold | 5,473 | 1 | 1 | 1450 |
| Malahide | 9,995 | 0 | 0 | — |
In brief
Central Elgin in brief
The 2021 Census dates 34% of Central Elgin’s homes before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. All told, the registers hold 1 historic place, one with the highest designation, Port Stanley among them. Its people of the past include Joe Knight (1859), Herbert Earl Wilton (1869) and George Blewett (1873). The other figures are unremarkable: one historic place is about usual for its size (the median is 0); and its designation dates from 1923.
How to read these numbers
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.
- 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. Every federal designation is in Parks Canada’s directory, and the Canadian Register of Historic Places gives most of them a bilingual statement of significance.
- 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 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. Parks Canada’s open file gives its national historic persons no place. A town’s page names one only when the person was born there (matched by name and both life years) or one of its own historic places carries the name and its record speaks of them; national historic events stay off.
- Map points. Parks Canada publishes no coordinates, so federal places are pinned where Wikidata puts them.
Questions about Central Elgin’s history
What is the oldest building in Central Elgin?
Port Stanley — its record dates it to 1669 (National Historic Site).
How old are the homes in Central Elgin?
Before 1961: 34% of its homes; the typical town has 18%.
Which places in Central Elgin have the highest designation?
Just one: Port Stanley.
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).