Beausoleil Island · Photo: Kavanagh · Public domainHeritage in Georgian Bay: 1 historic place of the highest rank
Scaled to its population, Georgian Bay’s 2.6 per 10,000 residents beats 89% of Canadian towns. Older housing stands out: 27% of homes predate 1961, where the typical town has 18%.
Where Georgian Bay’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Tap any dot to open that place’s own page; hovering shows its name.
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.
One place in Georgian Bay with the highest designation
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. Each one opens its own page.
TopAround Georgian Bay, within 50 km, the dated heritage reaches back to 1639
No place near Georgian Bay is close: these lie up to 50 km away, each by its first recorded construction date.
Within 50 km, 8 records give a date. 5 go back before 1867. First by date comes Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons Mission in Tay, from 1639.
The highest designation, 5 times, within 50 km of Georgian Bay
Count to 50 km and there are 8. The oldest, Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons Mission, dates from 1639, 29 km away. Closest of all is St. James on-the-Lines, in Penetanguishene, 25 km off.
The 8 nearest, within 50 km
| St. James on-the-LinesOntario Heritage Trust easement · 1840 · 25 km away, in Penetanguishene |
| Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons MissionNational Historic Site · 1639 · 29 km away, in Tay |
| Saint-Louis MissionNational Historic Site · 1640 · 30 km away, in Tay |
| Mission of St. Ignace IINational Historic Site · 1649 · 32 km away, in Tay |
| Fort Sainte Marie IINational Historic Site · 1649–1650 · 34 km away, in Tiny |
| Bethune Memorial HouseNational Historic Site · 1880–1881 · 35 km away, in Gravenhurst |
| Woodchester VillaOntario Heritage Trust easement · 1882 · 40 km away, in Bracebridge |
| Canadian Pacific Railway Station, Parry Sound, OntarioHeritage Railway Station · 1907–1908 · 43 km away, in Parry Sound |
Georgian Bay is still building: 8.7% of homes date from 2016 to 2021, against 4.1%
Half of the homes standing in Georgian Bay today were built before 2001. In Georgian Bay, 24% of homes date from 1961 to 1980, much as in most towns (27%). Homes built from 1981 to 2000 make up 24% of Georgian Bay’s, about the typical 23%.
2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.
Georgian Bay has the 1st most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 3,800 to 3,800 residents, by places on the registers.
The middle one has 0. 13 of them have nothing on the registers.
Georgian Bay in brief
The pre-1961 share of Georgian Bay’s homes is 27%, against 18% in the typical town. All told, the registers hold 1 historic place, one with the highest designation, Beausoleil Island among them. Of the 16 towns closest in size, it has the most historic places. The rest is about typical: its one place was designated in 2011.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Map points. Where a federal place sits on the map is Wikidata’s placing; the directory itself has no coordinates.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 tiers. Tiers follow the designation: national recognition and classement first, other federal designations next, provincial and local listings last.
- The grade. There is no history grade: the page sets out the record and compares it with other towns.
- 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.
Questions about Georgian Bay’s history
Which places in Georgian Bay have the highest designation?
Just one: Beausoleil Island.
How old are the homes in Georgian Bay?
27% of its homes were built before 1961, against 18% in the typical Canadian town.
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).