TopNational Historic Site · 1865–1866Former Elora Drill ShedMetcalfe at Clyde StreetPhoto: Yoho2001 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
Wellington County House of Industry and Refuge · Photo: Tudor Costache · CC BY-SA 3.02historic places on the registers
History of Fergus · Canada’s heritage registers
All of Fergus’s 2 historic places are top designations
Of Fergus’s dated places, Former Elora Drill Shed is the oldest, from 1865. As a municipality it dates, by Wikidata, from January 1, 1999, a date that can mark incorporation or a merger as well as a founding. Relative to its size Fergus has 0.6 per 10,000 residents, more than 75% of Canadian towns. 20 further listings on provincial or municipal registers are known only through Wikidata, so they have no page of their own.
Historic places
2
0.6 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
2
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Oldest building
1865
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
20%
typical town: 18%
In pictures
2 photos and 1 old pictures of heritage Fergus
Each of Fergus’s two designated places has a photo. Two to begin with: Wellington County House of Industry and Refuge and Former Elora Drill Shed.
Photos 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
The old face of Fergus
From before 1950 comes the oldest view of one of its historic places. A tap opens it at full size, with its credit.
c. 1890Public 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.
The map
Where Fergus’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designations
Names show on hover, and a tap takes you to the place’s page.
The 2, by tier
2 Highest designations
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
2 places in Fergus with the highest designation
Their designations span 1989 to 1995. National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. Former Elora Drill Shed is the earliest, from 1865; the latest dates from 1876. Each one opens its own page.
TopNational Historic Site · 1876–1878Wellington County House of Industry and Refuge536 County Road 18Photo: Tudor Costache · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
Around the town
Within 25 km of Fergus, 3 top designations
Among them are 3 provincial or municipal listings, 3 National Historic Sites and a heritage railway station. The earliest date is McCrae House’s, 1850, 22 km away. They stand in 3 towns, Guelph, Elmira and Rockwood among them.
The 8 nearest, within 25 km
| West Montrose Covered BridgeDesignated heritage property (part IV) · 1881 · 15 km away, in Elmira |
| Our Lady of the Immaculate ConceptionNational Historic Site · 1876–1889 · 22 km away, in Guelph |
| Guelph City HallNational Historic Site · 1856–1858 · 22 km away, in Guelph |
| Former Canadian National Railways (VIA Rail/GO Transit) Station, Guelph, OntarioHeritage Railway Station · 1911–1912 · 22 km away, in Guelph |
| ArmouryRecognized Federal Heritage Building · 1906–1908 · 22 km away, in Guelph |
| The BoathouseDesignated heritage property (part IV) · 1930 · 22 km away, in Guelph |
| McCrae HouseNational Historic Site · 1850–1861 · 22 km away, in Guelph |
| Rockwood AcademyOntario Heritage Trust property · 1850 · 24 km away, in Rockwood |
Homes by age
A growing town: 12% of Fergus’s homes went up from 2016 to 2021, against 4.1%
Count back from today and half of Fergus’s homes are older than 2001. Fergus’s largest group of homes, 29%, went up from 1981 to 2000. Before 1961: 20% of Fergus’s homes, near the usual 18%.
20%
Before 1961
21%
1961–80
29%
1981–2000
18%
2001–15
12%
2016–21
FergusTypical 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
19 people born in Fergus before 1914
Frank Sargent closes the list, born in 1902. It starts with William A. Paterson, born in 1838. Best known is Mary Rutnam, with articles in 8 Wikipedia languages. The longest life here was William Wallace Wilson’s, 91 years, ending in 1967.
William A. Paterson
Hugh Watt
William Kirkpatrick McNaught
Thomas Stuart Traill Smellie
Thomas Martin
Charles Kirk Clarke
Orton Grain
William Short
James Grassick
Udney Richardson
Jean Dow
Jack Armytage
Mary Rutnam
William Wallace Wilson
Bert Lindsay
Dave Rowan
Fred Jacob
Fergus Beck Brownridge
Frank Sargent
1800182518501875190019251950
MR
Mary Rutnam1873–1962 · Canadian doctor, gynecologist, and suffragist
Bert Lindsay1881–1960 · Canadian ice hockey player
Charles Kirk Clarke1857–1924 · Canadian psychiatrist
HW
Hugh Watt1841–1914 · Canadian physician and political figure in British Columbia
WS
William Short1866–1926 · Canadian politician
Jean Dow1870–1927 · Canadian medical missionary,
Jack Armytage1872–1943 · Canadian ice hockey player
DR
Dave Rowan1882–1955 · Canadian baseball player
Everyone born in Fergus → 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
Fergus has the 3rd most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 33,700 to 35,400 residents, by places on the registers.
Fergus2
Just these have more: Sainte-Marie and Whitehorse. The typical town its size has 1. 6 of them have none.
In brief
Fergus in brief
Counted by age, 20% of Fergus’s homes predate 1961, against 18% in the typical town. The count is 2 historic places, 2 with the highest designation. Of the 16 towns closest in size, just 2 have more historic places. Of its people of the past, the best known are Mary Rutnam (1873), Bert Lindsay (1881) and Charles Kirk Clarke (1857). The other figures are unremarkable: the list grew between 1989 and 1995.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. Provincial and municipal listings here come from Wikidata alone, since the provinces’ own registers can’t be reused; a listing needs an encyclopedia article to get a page.
- Map points. Parks Canada publishes no coordinates, so federal places are pinned where Wikidata puts them.
- Protection. National historic designation honours a place but binds only federal owners; a private building’s protection depends on its province or municipality.
- The grade. History is described, not graded, for every Canadian town.
- 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.
- The tiers. Three tiers: the top for National Historic Sites, classified federal buildings and Québec’s classements, a second for the other federal designations, a third for provincial and municipal listings.
Questions about Fergus’s history
Which places in Fergus have the highest designation?
They are Former Elora Drill Shed and Wellington County House of Industry and Refuge.
What is the oldest building in Fergus?
Former Elora Drill Shed (National Historic Site): the first construction date on its record is 1865.
Why might a heritage building in Fergus be missing here?
Provincial and municipal registers outside Québec aren’t open data. Wikidata knows 20 more listings in Fergus, but without an open description or an encyclopedia article they get no page.
How old are the homes in Fergus?
Before 1961: 20% of its homes; the typical town has 18%.
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).