Photo: Loozrboy from Toronto, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0Older housing stands out in Point Edward: 53% predates 1961
For Point Edward, that is 3 times the typical town’s share, 18%. VIA Rail Station, Sarnia, Ontario, 4.3 km from Point Edward, heads a list of 5 historic places within 50 km. Petrolia, 25 km away, has the nearest place of the highest rank. Wikidata gives 1878 for the municipality, whether that is when it was founded, incorporated or merged.
Most of what stands within 50 km of Point Edward dates from the decades after Confederation
The area here stretches to 50 km around Point Edward: each historic place by the first construction date it records.
First Commercial Oil Field, in Enniskillen, goes back furthest, to 1858. The chart rests on 5 dated places within 50 km. Before Confederation: one.
“VIA Rail Station, Sarnia, Ontario”, 4.3 km from Point Edward, is the closest
All told, 5 places are within 50 km. First Commercial Oil Field, 33 km off, is the oldest: 1858. Of the 2 of the highest rank, the nearest is Victoria Hall / Petrolia Town Hall, 25 km away.
The 5 nearest, within 50 km
| VIA Rail Station, Sarnia, OntarioHeritage Railway Station · 1891–1892 · 4.3 km away, in Sarnia |
| Victoria Hall / Petrolia Town HallNational Historic Site · 1887–1890 · 25 km away, in Petrolia |
| First Commercial Oil FieldNational Historic Site · 1858–1859 · 33 km away, in Enniskillen |
| Walpole Island Upper A34 LighthouseHeritage Lighthouse · 1929 · 42 km away, in Walpole Island 46 |
| Walpole Island Lower A32 LighthouseHeritage Lighthouse · 1931 · 43 km away, in Walpole Island 46 |
New homes are rare in Point Edward: 2.1% from 2016–21, against a usual 4.1%
Point Edward built little from 2001 to 2015: 6.9% of its homes, where most towns have 15%. Homes built from 1961 to 1980 make up just 20% of Point Edward’s, against 27% in the typical town. Over half of the homes in Point Edward were already standing by 1961.
2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.
Point Edward and its neighbours
Point Edward in brief
The 2021 Census dates 53% of Point Edward’s homes before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. Everything else is close to the norm: one person of its past, William Guthrie (1884).
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The federal register. Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations lists every National Historic Site, federal heritage building, heritage railway station and lighthouse; the Canadian Register of Historic Places adds their statements in English and French.
- 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.
- People and events. The open directory puts its national historic persons nowhere, so a town shows one only on firm ground: a birth there, matched by name and life years, or a historic place there named for the person whose record says so. Events are left out.
- 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.
- The grade. History is described, not graded, for every Canadian town.
- Provincial and municipal lists. The local and provincial lists outside Québec aren’t published openly, so this page counts what Wikidata records and pages only the places an encyclopedia describes.
Questions about Point Edward’s history
How many historic places does Point Edward have on the registers?
None within Point Edward itself; the nearest is 4.3 km off: VIA Rail Station, Sarnia, Ontario, in Sarnia.
When did Point Edward become a municipality?
By Wikidata, Point Edward dates from 1878; the record doesn’t say whether that is a founding, an incorporation or a merger.
How old are the homes in Point Edward?
53% 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).