Photo: JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.060% of Balfour’s homes were built before 1961
Balfour’s share is 3.4 times the typical 18%. The nearest heritage to Balfour is Auchmar, 1 km off, one of 12 places within 5 km. Look 2.4 km away, to Corktown, for the nearest place of the highest designation.
Around Balfour, within 5 km, most dated places come from the years before Confederation
Within 5 km of Balfour but outside it: each historic place by its first recorded construction date.
First by date comes Burlington Heights in Strathcona, from 1813. Within 5 km, 12 records give a date. Before Confederation: 7.
9 places of national importance within 5 km of Balfour
They are spread over 6 towns, including Corktown, Beasley and Durand. The first one out is Auchmar, 1 km away in Centremount. Count to 5 km and there are 12.
The 12 nearest, within 5 km
| AuchmarOntario Heritage Trust easement · 1855 · 1 km away, in Centremount |
| Sandyford PlaceNational Historic Site · 1856–1857 · 2.4 km away, in Durand |
| Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway Station, Former, Hamilton, OntarioHeritage Railway Station · 1931–1934 · 2.6 km away, in Corktown |
| McQuesten House / WhitehernNational Historic Site · 1848–1849 · 2.7 km away, in Durand |
| St. Paul's Presbyterian Church / Former St. Andrew's ChurchNational Historic Site · 1854–1858 · 2.8 km away, in Corktown |
| Victoria HallNational Historic Site · 1887–1889 · 2.9 km away, in Corktown |
| John Weir Foote ArmouryNational Historic Site · 1887–1889 · 3.6 km away, in Beasley |
| Christ's Church CathedralOntario Heritage Trust easement · 1873 · 3.7 km away, in Beasley |
| Former Hamilton Railway Station (Canadian National)National Historic Site · 1929–1932 · 4 km away, in Beasley |
| Former Hamilton Customs HouseNational Historic Site · 1858–1861 · 4 km away, in Central |
| Dundurn CastleNational Historic Site · 1834–1836 · 4.3 km away, in Strathcona |
| Burlington HeightsNational Historic Site · 1813–1814 · 4.5 km away, in Strathcona |
None of Balfour’s homes is from 2016–21 (4.1% is typical)
Homes built from 2001 to 2015 make up just 0.6% of Balfour’s, against 15% in the typical town. Only 5.7% of Balfour’s homes were built from 1981 to 2000, less than the typical town’s 23%. Half of the homes standing in Balfour today were built before 1961.
2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.
How Balfour compares with 16 towns its size
Towns of 4,200 to 4,200 residents, by places on the registers.
Ahead of it: Carleton-sur-Mer, West River and Napierville. The middle one has 0. 13 of them have none.
Balfour and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balfour | 4,171 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Greeningdon | 3,296 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Hill Park | 3,262 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Centremount | 4,053 | 1 | 0 | 1855 |
| Buchanan | 3,006 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Bruleville | 4,310 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Rolston | 6,124 | 0 | 0 | — |
Balfour in brief
Older stock first: 60% of homes in Balfour were standing by 1961, against 18% in the typical town. Most towns its size have more historic places: the typical one has 0.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The tiers. National Historic Sites and the most protected buildings form the top tier; recognized federal buildings, stations and lighthouses the second; provincial and municipal listings the third.
- 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.
- The grade. History isn’t one of Canada’s graded pillars, so this page describes and compares without a letter.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about Balfour’s history
How many historic places does Balfour have on the registers?
None inside Balfour yet. The nearest is Auchmar, 1 km away in Centremount.
How old are the homes in Balfour?
The 2021 Census dates 60% of its homes before 1961 (18% in the typical 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).