TopNational Historic Site · 1813–1815Fort WellingtonKing StreetPhoto: Rbgstewart · Public domain · Commons file
Prescott Railway Station (Grand Trunk) · Photo: Thomas Ruigrok / Tcer99 · CC BY-SA 4.07historic places on the registers
History of Prescott · Canada’s heritage registers
58% of Prescott’s homes were built before 1961
Most towns have 18%, so Prescott has 3.3 times as much. Canada’s heritage registers list 7 historic places inside the town, 3 with the highest designation. Scaled to its population the record is long: 16 per 10,000 residents, more than 99% of Canadian towns. The earliest construction date, 1813, belongs to Fort Wellington.
Historic places
7
16 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
3
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Other federal designations
4
Recognized buildings, railway stations, lighthouses
Oldest building
1813
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
58%
typical town: 18%
In pictures
Photos of 2 of the 3 top-tier places in Prescott
Among Prescott’s top-tier places, 2 are pictured. 2 of the places on Prescott’s heritage registers are pictured here; the others keep their register record. To start: Prescott Railway Station (Grand Trunk), and Fort Wellington.
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.
Through time
Prescott through the years, 1900–1912
2 old photographs of the town, then the oldest view of one of its historic places, set out by date. Pick a dot to see the year; pick a picture to see it large.
c. 1900
1903
1912Public domain or CC0, made before 1950, from Wikimedia Commons; old views of places can be drawings, prints or maps of their time. Each credit opens the image’s page.
The map
Where Prescott’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designations
Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.
The 7, by tier
3 Highest designations4 Other federal designations
Federal designations come from Parks Canada’s directory; a province’s or a council’s own listing shows here only when Wikidata holds it and an encyclopedia covers it.
Points from Wikidata (Parks Canada’s files carry none) and from Québec’s register, as mapped there. 5 places, placed by their register’s municipality, have no point and aren’t on the map.
Highest designations
3 places in Prescott with the highest designation
The group holds 2 National Historic Sites and a Classified Federal Heritage Building. National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. Fort Wellington is the earliest, from 1813; the latest dates from 1855. Each one opens its own page.
TopNational Historic Site · 1855–1856Prescott Railway Station (Grand Trunk)820 St. Lawrence StreetPhoto: Thomas Ruigrok / Tcer99 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons file
Classified Federal Heritage Building · 1838–1840Blockhouse
Other federal designations
Federal heritage in Prescott: 4 more places
The group holds 3 Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings and a heritage lighthouse. Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings, heritage railway stations and lighthouses. Windmill Point Lighthouse is the earliest, from 1832; the latest dates from 1839. Each one opens its own page.
Recognized Federal Heritage Building · 1839–1840Caponier
Recognized Federal Heritage Building · 1839–1840Latrine
Recognized Federal Heritage Building · 1839–1840Officers' Quarters
Heritage Lighthouse · 1832–1833Windmill Point LighthouseCounty Road 2 East
What’s designated
The list in Prescott starts with forts and military buildings, at 57%
The second-largest group is stations, lighthouses and bridges, with 2. At the head of the list: Fort Wellington and Prescott Railway Station (Grand Trunk).
Forts and military buildings4
Stations, lighthouses and bridges2
Public buildings1
The groups come from each place’s name and its recorded functions, by what it was built as.
Homes by age
New homes are rare in Prescott: 2.1% from 2016–21, against a usual 4.1%
Only 5.8% of Prescott’s homes were built from 2001 to 2015, less than the typical town’s 15%. Prescott built little from 1981 to 2000: 10% of its homes, where most towns have 23%. Half of the homes standing in Prescott today were built before 1961.
58%
Before 1961
24%
1961–80
10%
1981–2000
5.8%
2001–15
2.1%
2016–21
PrescottTypical 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
2 national historic persons among Prescott’s people of the past
Daniel Hilliard comes first, born in 1824. The record holds 9 people born here before 1914. Of the 9, 5 were born in the years before Confederation. Longest lived was Bruce Hutchison, 91 years in all (1992).
Daniel Hilliard
Richard William Scott
Thomas Pope
James Morrow Walsh
George H. Baker
Robert Henry Lindsay
Charles William Morrow
Bruce Hutchison
Earl Roche
1800182518501875190019251950
Richard William Scott1825–1913 · Designated nationally in 1938 · Canadian politician
James Morrow Walsh1840–1905 · Person of national historic significance (1967) · First Commissioner …
BH
Bruce Hutchison1901–1992 · Canadian author and journalist
ER
Earl Roche1910–1965 · Canadian ice hockey player
CM
Charles William Morrow1897–1980 · Canadian politician
Thomas Pope1825–1863 · Canadian politician
Robert Henry Lindsay1868–1938 · Canadian painter
DH
Daniel Hilliard1824–1888 · Canadian politician
Everyone born in Prescott → 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.
Towns its size
Prescott has the most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 4,300 to 4,400 residents, by places on the registers.
Prescott7
The middle one has 0. For 9, the registers list nothing.
Neighbours
Prescott and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prescott | 4,342 | 7 | 3 | 1813 |
| Augusta | 7,767 | 2 | 2 | 1758 |
| Cardinal | 7,952 | 2 | 2 | 1832 |
| Brockville | 23,720 | 4 | 3 | 1842 |
In brief
Prescott in brief
Prescott has 58% of its homes from before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. The lists come to 7 historic places, 3 with the highest designation. Of the 16 towns closest in size, it has the most historic places. Richard William Scott (1825), James Morrow Walsh (1840) and Bruce Hutchison (1901) lead its people of the past. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: most dated places belong to the years before Confederation; and its places were designated between 1920 and 2013.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The grade. There is no history grade: the page sets out the record and compares it with other towns.
- 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.
- The tiers. Tiers follow the designation: national recognition and classement first, other federal designations next, provincial and local listings last.
- Protection. National historic designation honours a place but binds only federal owners; a private building’s protection depends on its province or municipality.
- Map points. Where a federal place sits on the map is Wikidata’s placing; the directory itself has no coordinates.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about Prescott’s history
How old are the homes in Prescott?
Before 1961: 58% of its homes; the typical town has 18%.
Which places in Prescott have the highest designation?
They are Fort Wellington, Prescott Railway Station (Grand Trunk) and Blockhouse.
What is the oldest building in Prescott?
Fort Wellington — its record dates it to 1813 (National Historic Site).
Why might a heritage building in Prescott be missing here?
Provincial and municipal registers outside Québec aren’t open data. Wikidata knows one more listing in Prescott, but without an open description or an encyclopedia article it gets no page.
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).