LocalOntario Heritage Trust property · 1850Rockwood AcademyPhoto: Magnolia677 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons file
Rockwood Academy · Photo: Magnolia677 · CC BY-SA 4.01historic place on the registers
History of Rockwood · Canada’s heritage registers
Canada’s registers list 1 historic place in Rockwood
Rockwood’s entry is Rockwood Academy (1850), a ontario heritage trust property. Measured against its size, Rockwood’s 0.7 per 10,000 residents puts it ahead of 76% of Canadian towns.
Historic places
1
0.7 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
0
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Provincial and local listings
1
provincial and municipal listings with an encyclopedia article
Oldest building
1850
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
20%
typical town: 18%
The map
Where Rockwood’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Provincial and local listings
Dots open their places’ pages; hover first to read the name.
The 1, by tier
1 Provincial and local listings
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.
Provincial and local listings
One local listing in Rockwood
Provincial and municipal listings that Wikidata records and an encyclopedia describes. Each one opens its own page.
Around the town
Top-ranked heritage near Rockwood: 3 places within 10 km
The radius of 10 km holds 6. Closest of all is “Former Canadian National Railways (VIA Rail/GO Transit) Station, Guelph, Ontario”, in Guelph, 4.7 km off. McCrae House, 5.4 km off, is the oldest: 1850.
The 6 nearest, within 10 km
| Former Canadian National Railways (VIA Rail/GO Transit) Station, Guelph, OntarioHeritage Railway Station · 1911–1912 · 4.7 km away, in Guelph |
| Guelph City HallNational Historic Site · 1856–1858 · 4.8 km away, in Guelph |
| ArmouryRecognized Federal Heritage Building · 1906–1908 · 4.8 km away, in Guelph |
| Our Lady of the Immaculate ConceptionNational Historic Site · 1876–1889 · 5 km away, in Guelph |
| The BoathouseDesignated heritage property (part IV) · 1930 · 5 km away, in Guelph |
| McCrae HouseNational Historic Site · 1850–1861 · 5.4 km away, in Guelph |
Homes by age
8.3% of Rockwood’s homes are from 2016 to 2021 (4.1% is typical)
Half of the homes standing in Rockwood today were built before 2001. The busiest building years in Rockwood were from 1981 to 2000, which account for 29% of today’s homes. Like the typical town (18%), Rockwood has 20% of its homes from before 1961.
20%
Before 1961
23%
1961–80
29%
1981–2000
19%
2001–15
8.3%
2016–21
RockwoodTypical 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
Born in Rockwood before the First World War: 5 lives
James J. Hill is on Canada’s list of national historic persons. 13 Wikipedias cover James J. Hill, the most of anyone here. In 1838 came the earliest, James J. Hill. Frank Nugent Freeman lived longest, to 81, dying in 1961.
James J. Hill
John Mutrie
John Wishart
Peter Talbot
Frank Nugent Freeman
1800182518501875190019251950
James J. Hill1838–1916 · Designated nationally in 1938 · American railroad promoter and financ…
Peter Talbot1854–1919 · Canadian parliamentarian
John Wishart1850–1926 · Canadian surgeon
FF
Frank Nugent Freeman1880–1961 · Canadian-American psychologist
JM
John Mutrie1849–1929 · Canadian politician
Everyone born in Rockwood → 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
Rockwood has the 3rd most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 14,800 to 14,900 residents, by places on the registers.
Rockwood1
Just these have more: Saint-Louis and Bécancour. Their median is 0. 10 of them have nothing on the registers.
Neighbours
Rockwood and its neighbours
In brief
Rockwood in brief
Of the homes standing in Rockwood, 20% went up before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. The lists come to 1 historic place. Only 2 of the 16 towns nearest its size have more historic places. Its people of the past include James J. Hill (1838), Peter Talbot (1854) and John Wishart (1850).
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Map points. Where a federal place sits on the map is Wikidata’s placing; the directory itself has no coordinates.
- 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.
- 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.
- The grade. This page gives no grade; history doesn’t count toward a Canadian town’s letter.
- 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.
- 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.
- Protection. National historic designation honours a place but binds only federal owners; a private building’s protection depends on its province or municipality.
Questions about Rockwood’s history
How many historic places does Rockwood have on the registers?
The registers list 1 historic place inside Rockwood.
What is the oldest building in Rockwood?
Rockwood Academy — its record dates it to 1850 (Ontario Heritage Trust property).
How old are the homes in Rockwood?
Before 1961: 20% 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.
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).