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Grandview Resort, Sparrow Lake, Severn, Ontario, Canada - panoramioPhoto: norgo · CC BY-SA 3.0
0historic places on the registers
History of Severn · Canada’s heritage registers

5 heritage places lie within 25 km of Severn

For the highest designations, the closest town to Severn is Orillia, 7.1 km off. 7.7% of its homes went up between 2016 and 2021; the typical town built 4.1%.

Historic places within 25 km
5
4 of the highest designation
Nearest historic place
7.8 km
Canadian National Railway Station, Orillia, Ontario
Homes built before 1961
21%
typical town: 18%
Born here before 1914
1
the earliest in 1891
Around the town

5 places on Canada’s registers lie 25 km or less from Severn

Stephen Leacock Museum / Old Brewery Bay, 8.3 km off, is the nearest of 4 top-tier places. Their towns number 4: Orillia, Ramara and Tay first. The first one out is “Canadian National Railway Station, Orillia, Ontario”, 7.8 km away in Orillia.

The 5 nearest, within 25 km

Canadian National Railway Station, Orillia, OntarioHeritage Railway Station · 1917–1918 · 7.8 km away, in Orillia
Stephen Leacock Museum / Old Brewery BayNational Historic Site · 1928–1929 · 8.3 km away, in Orillia
Mnjikaning Fish WeirsNational Historic Site · 1650 · 9.8 km away, in Ramara
Mission of St. Ignace IINational Historic Site · 1649 · 22 km away, in Tay
Oro African Methodist Episcopal ChurchNational Historic Site · 1849–1850 · 24 km away, in Oro-Medonte
How it began

Severn’s early dates, from 1868

Severn was renamed in 1868. January 1, 1994 is the date of Severn’s municipality in Wikidata, and like many such dates it may record a charter, not the first homes.

How it began: Wikidata (CC0); dates read from English Wikipedia’s article “Severn, Ontario”, revision 1377576878 (CC BY-SA 4.0), and stated in our own words.

The age of the area

Around Severn, within 25 km, the dated heritage reaches back to 1649

The area here stretches to 25 km around Severn: each historic place by the first construction date it records.

New France before 17602
British North America 1760–18661
After Confederation 1867–19130
Wars and Depression 1914–19452
Since 1946 1946 on0

First by date comes Mission of St. Ignace II in Tay, from 1649. Within 25 km, building dates exist for 5 places. 3 are older than 1867.

Homes by age

Severn’s building boom came from 1961 to 1980: 26% of its homes

Before 1961: 21% of Severn’s homes, near the usual 18%. Severn has an unusual share of homes built from 2001 to 2015: 20%, where most towns have 15%. More than half of Severn’s housing predates 2001.

21%
Before 1961
26%
1961–80
26%
1981–2000
20%
2001–15
7.7%
2016–21
SevernTypical town

2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.

Neighbours

Severn and its neighbours

TownPeoplePlacesHighestOldest
Severn15,71600—
Orillia37,735211917
Chippewas of Rama First Nation1,14900—
Oro-Medonte24,681111849
Ramara11,551111650
In brief

Severn in brief

The 2021 Census dates 21% of Severn’s homes before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. Everything else is close to the norm: like most towns its size, it has no historic place; and its past has one life on the record, Edward Lyman Abbott (1891).

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • 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 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.
  • 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 grade. This page gives no grade; history doesn’t count toward a Canadian town’s letter.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Questions about Severn’s history

How many historic places does Severn have on the registers?

Inside Severn, none so far; Canadian National Railway Station, Orillia, Ontario, 7.8 km away in Orillia, is the closest.

How old are the homes in Severn?

The 2021 Census dates 21% of its homes before 1961 (18% in the typical 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).