Thistle Ha' Farm · Photo: Mhsheikholeslami · CC BY-SA 4.0
5historic places on the registers
History of Pickering · Canada’s heritage registers
One top designation among Pickering’s 5 historic places
Designations here include 4 Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings. Of the dated places, Thistle Ha' Farm is the oldest, from 1840. The typical town keeps 18% of its homes from before 1961; here it is 6.2%. Relative to its size Pickering has 0.4 per 10,000 residents, more than 73% of Canadian towns.
In 1856 the railway came to Pickering. 1811 is the date of Pickering’s municipality in Wikidata, and like many such dates it may record a charter, not the first homes.
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designations
Dots open their places’ pages; hover first to read the name.
The 5, by tier
1 Highest designations4 Other federal 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. 4 places, placed by their register’s municipality, have no point and aren’t on the map.
Highest designations
One place in Pickering with the highest designation
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. Each one opens its own page.
They were designated between 2006 and 2009. Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings, heritage railway stations and lighthouses. Former Mount Pleasant School House is the earliest, from 1858; the latest dates from 1864. Each one opens its own page.
The first by rank are Thistle Ha' Farm and Former Mount Pleasant School House.
Public buildings3
Houses1
Other places1
Grouped by what each register says the place is or was; a converted building counts as what it was built for.
Homes by age
Pickering is still building: 8.5% of homes date from 2016 to 2021, against 4.1%
46% of Pickering’s homes were built from 1981 to 2000, more than the typical town’s 23%. Half of the homes standing in Pickering today were built before 2001. Building from 1961 to 1980 gave Pickering 25% of its homes, near the usual 27%.
6.2%
Before 1961
25%
1961–80
46%
1981–2000
14%
2001–15
8.5%
2016–21
PickeringTypical 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
3 national historic persons among Pickering’s people of the past
By Wikipedia’s reach, Tom Thomson leads, with 23 articles. Wikidata and Wikipedia agree on 8 births here before 1914. At the other end is Donald Strathearn Rawson, from 1905. In 1833 came the earliest, Caroline M. Nichols Churchill.
Caroline M. Nichols Churchill
John Leys
Denis T. O'Connor
Daniel David Palmer
Robert Menzies Mitchell
Tom Thomson
Traci Melchor
Donald Strathearn Rawson
1800182518501875190019251950
Tom Thomson1877–1917 · National historic person, 1958 · Canadian artist
Daniel David Palmer1845–1913 · National historic person, 1993 · Founder of Chiropractic
Caroline M. Nichols Churchill1833–1926 · American feminist
Denis T. O'Connor1841–1911 · Catholic archbishop
Traci Melchor1901– · Canadian television personality
John Leys1834– · Canadian politician
Robert Menzies Mitchell1865–1932 · Canadian politician
DR
Donald Strathearn Rawson1905–1961 · National historic person, 2019 · Canadian limnologist
Everyone born in Pickering → Born before 1914. Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against Wikipedia; national historic persons from Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, matched by name and life years.
Pickering has 5 historic places, one with the highest designation, among them Thistle Ha' Farm. Among the lives from its past: Tom Thomson (1877), Daniel David Palmer (1845) and Caroline M. Nichols Churchill (1833). Its housing is young: only 6.2% predates 1961, against 18% in the typical town. Everything else is close to the norm: 5 historic places is about usual for its size (the median is 5); and the list grew between 1973 and 2009.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
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Protection. National historic designation honours a place but binds only federal owners; a private building’s protection depends on its province or municipality.
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The federal register. Federal places come from Parks Canada’s directory, which counts National Historic Sites, federal heritage buildings, stations and lighthouses; their statements are the register’s own.
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People and events. Persons of national historic significance come with no location; a town gets one only by birthplace (name and both life years agreeing) or by one of its own places that bears the name and whose record tells the story. Events, which can’t be tied, are left out.
•
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.
•
The grade. This page gives no grade; history doesn’t count toward a Canadian town’s letter.
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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.
•
Map points. Pins for federal places come from Wikidata rather than Parks Canada, which gives no points.
Questions about Pickering’s history
Which places in Pickering have the highest designation?
Thistle Ha' Farm.
What is the oldest building in Pickering?
Thistle Ha' Farm — its record dates it to 1840 (National Historic Site).
How old are the homes in Pickering?
Before 1961: 6.2% 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.
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