Photo: Robert Taylor from Stirling, ON, Canada · CC BY 2.0An older town: 44% of Stirling’s homes predate 1961
Stirling’s share is 2.5 times the typical 18%. 10 places on the heritage registers lie within 50 km of Stirling, the nearest Belleville Railway Station (Grand Trunk), 23 km away. Heritage of the first rank begins 22 km away, in Belleville. William Morgan heads a list of 2 people born in Stirling before 1914.
Most of what stands within 50 km of Stirling dates from the years before Confederation
The area here stretches to 50 km around Stirling: each historic place by the first construction date it records.
8 places within 50 km have a date. 5 go back before 1867. Oldest of all: Carrying Place of the Bay of Quinte, Picton, 1787.
23 km from Stirling: Belleville Railway Station (Grand Trunk), the nearest on the registers
Their towns number 7: Belleville, Picton and Quinte West first. The earliest date is Carrying Place of the Bay of Quinte’s, 1787, 29 km away. All told, 10 places are within 50 km.
The 10 nearest, within 50 km
| Belleville Railway Station (Grand Trunk)National Historic Site · 1856–1857 · 23 km away, in Belleville |
| ArmouryRecognized Federal Heritage Building · 1907–1909 · 24 km away, in Belleville |
| Trent – Severn WaterwayNational Historic Site · 1830–1921 · 24 km away, in Quinte West |
| Glanmore / Phillips-Faulkner HouseNational Historic Site · 1882–1884 · 24 km away, in Belleville |
| Canadian Pacific Railway Station, Havelock, OntarioHeritage Railway Station · 1914–1930 · 27 km away, in Havelock |
| Carrying Place of the Bay of QuinteNational Historic Site · 1787 · 29 km away, in Picton |
| Christ Church, Her Majesty's Chapel Royal of the MohawkNational Historic Site · 1843–1844 · 44 km away, in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory |
| Scotch Bonnet Island LighthouseHeritage Lighthouse · 1853–1856 · 46 km away, in Picton |
| Serpent MoundsNational Historic Site · 47 km away, in Otonabee-South Monaghan |
| Peterborough PetroglyphsNational Historic Site · 49 km away, in North Kawartha |
44% of Stirling’s homes were built before 1961
From 2016 to 2021 Stirling added 3.8% of its homes, close to the typical town’s 4.1%. Homes built from 2001 to 2015 make up just 9.1% of Stirling’s, against 15% in the typical town. Only 21% of Stirling’s homes were built from 1961 to 1980, less than the typical town’s 27%.
2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.
How Stirling compares with 16 towns its size
Towns of 5,500 to 5,500 residents, by places on the registers.
Ahead of it: Cookshire-Eaton, New Glasgow, Grand Falls / Grand-Sault, Island Park-Wellington Village and Southwold. The middle one has 0. 11 of them have nothing on the registers.
Stirling and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stirling | 5,489 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Campbellford | 15,103 | 0 | 0 | — |
Stirling in brief
Housing in Stirling includes 44% built before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. Most towns its size have more historic places: the typical one has 0. The other figures are unremarkable: people of its past such as William Morgan (1848) and James Albert Faulkner (1877).
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. National Historic Sites and the most protected buildings form the top tier; recognized federal buildings, stations and lighthouses the second; provincial and municipal listings the third.
- Provincial and municipal lists. Outside Québec, provinces’ and municipalities’ heritage registers aren’t open data; their places are known only through Wikidata items with a register number, and only those with an encyclopedia article get a page.
- The grade. History isn’t one of Canada’s graded pillars, so this page describes and compares without a letter.
- Protection. Federal recognition isn’t a planning control: buildings the federal government owns follow its heritage policy, while others are protected only by a provincial or municipal designation.
- 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.
Questions about Stirling’s history
How many historic places does Stirling have on the registers?
Inside Stirling, none so far. At 23 km, Belleville Railway Station (Grand Trunk) in Belleville is the nearest, with the top designation.
How old are the homes in Stirling?
The 2021 Census dates 44% 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).