Canadian National Railway Station, Unionville, Ontario · Photo: oaktree_brian_1976 from Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0
3historic places on the registers
History of Markham · Canada’s heritage registers
Canada’s registers list 3 historic places in Markham
On the list: 2 heritage railway stations and a provincial or municipal listing. The typical town keeps 18% of its homes from before 1961; here it is 2.6%. The earliest construction date, 1871, belongs to Canadian National Railway Station, Unionville, Ontario. 17 more places on provincial or local lists are counted from Wikidata without pages.
provincial and municipal listings with an encyclopedia article
Oldest building
1871
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
2.6%
typical town: 18%
In pictures
Historic Markham, in 3 photos
Photos show every place Markham’s registers name. Begin with “Canadian National Railway Station, Unionville, Ontario”, then “Former Canadian National Railway Station, Markham, Ontario”. 3 photographers took them.
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.
How it began
Milestones of Markham since 1794
On Wikidata the municipality of Markham dates to 1794, with no word on whether that was its founding or a later incorporation. Markham is named after John Markham, english judge and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. Markham took its legal form as a town in 1971.
Rail service is on record from 1871, when Markham GO Station opened.
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Other federal designationsProvincial and local listings
Each dot is a place: point at it for the name, tap it for its page.
The 3, by tier
2 Other federal designations1 Provincial and local listings
What the map shows is the open record: the federal directory in full, and from provincial or municipal lists only the places Wikidata ties to an encyclopedia article.
Points from Wikidata (Parks Canada’s files carry none) and from Québec’s register, as mapped there.
Other federal designations
2 more federal designations in Markham
Their designations span 1992 to 1994. Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings, heritage railway stations and lighthouses. Start with “Canadian National Railway Station, Unionville, Ontario” and “Former Canadian National Railway Station, Markham, Ontario”. Each one opens its own page.
8.6% of Markham’s homes are from 2016 to 2021 (4.1% is typical)
Homes built from 1961 to 1980 make up just 16% of Markham’s, against 27% in the typical town. 39% of Markham’s homes were built from 2001 to 2015, more than the typical town’s 15%. Markham has an unusual share of homes built from 1981 to 2000: 34%, where most towns have 23%.
2.6%
Before 1961
16%
1961–80
34%
1981–2000
39%
2001–15
8.6%
2016–21
MarkhamTypical 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
9 Markham births on record from before 1914
The first on the line is David Reesor (1823). Lloyd Montgomery Pidgeon closes the list, born in 1903. By Wikipedia’s reach, W. O. Forsyth leads, with 4 articles. At 96, Lloyd Montgomery Pidgeon outlived the rest, dying in 1999.
David Reesor
Edward L. Cash
Walter MacMorris Dack
W. O. Forsyth
Robert Rennie
Albert Robertson
Thomas Rennie
Charles Querrie
Lloyd Montgomery Pidgeon
1800182518501875190019251950
WF
W. O. Forsyth1859–1937 · Canadian pianist and composer
Edward L. Cash1849–1922 · Canadian politician
Robert Rennie1863–1949 · Canadian military personnel
Albert Robertson1864–1952 · Canadian politician
David Reesor1823–1902 · Canadian politician
WD
Walter MacMorris Dack1852–1912 · Canadian politician and journalist
TR
Thomas Rennie1868–1952 · Canadian politician
Charles Querrie1877–1950 · Ice hockey executive
Everyone born in Markham → Born before 1914 (the page’s periods: Confederation to the First World War). Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s Wikipedia article.
Canada’s heritage lists give Markham 3 historic places. W. O. Forsyth (1859), Edward L. Cash (1849) and Robert Rennie (1863) are the best known of its historic lives. Its homes are mostly newer: 2.6% were built before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. For the rest, its places were designated between 1992 and 1994.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
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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.
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The grade. History is described, not graded, for every Canadian town.
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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.
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Protection. Being on these registers doesn’t mean a building can’t change. Federal designation commemorates; protection is provincial or municipal, and those lists aren’t open here.
•
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.
•
Map points. Where a federal place sits on the map is Wikidata’s placing; the directory itself has no coordinates.
•
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.
Questions about Markham’s history
How many historic places does Markham have on the registers?
3 historic places inside Markham, by the federal, Québec and Wikidata-known registers.
How old are the homes in Markham?
2.6% predate 1961, where the typical town has 18%.
What is the oldest building in Markham?
Canadian National Railway Station, Unionville, Ontario (Heritage Railway Station): the first construction date on its record is 1871.
Why might a heritage building in Markham be missing here?
Its province’s and council’s own lists can’t be reused here; 17 further listings in Markham show up only as Wikidata numbers.
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.
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