Photo: Rub-a-dub Hedgehog · CC0Older housing stands out in West Lorne: 48% predates 1961
Against 18% in the typical town, West Lorne has 2.7 times the share. 10 places on the heritage registers lie within 50 km of West Lorne, the nearest Battle Hill, 14 km away. Look 20 km away, to Glencoe, for the nearest place of the highest designation. The earliest of 3 people born in West Lorne before 1914 is Colin MacDougall.
Near West Lorne, within 50 km: built places from 1450 on
No place near West Lorne is close: these lie up to 50 km away, each by its first recorded construction date.
10 places within 50 km have a date. 6 are older than 1867. Southwold Earthworks, in Southwold, goes back furthest, to 1450.
West Lorne’s surroundings: 10 historic places within 50 km
The mix: 6 National Historic Sites, 2 heritage railway stations and a heritage lighthouse. They stand in 6 towns, St. Thomas, Chatham and Central Elgin among them. By age, Southwold Earthworks leads, from 1450, at 24 km.
The 10 nearest, within 50 km
| Battle HillNational Historic Site · 1814 · 14 km away, in Glencoe |
| Fairfield on the ThamesNational Historic Site · 1792–1793 · 23 km away, in Chatham |
| Southwold EarthworksNational Historic Site · 1450–1551 · 24 km away, in Southwold |
| Port Stanley Breakwater LighthouseHeritage Lighthouse · 1911 · 35 km away, in Central Elgin |
| Port StanleyNational Historic Site · 1669–1670 · 35 km away, in Central Elgin |
| Old St. Thomas ChurchOntario Heritage Trust easement · 1824 · 41 km away, in St. Thomas |
| St. Thomas City HallNational Historic Site · 1898–1900 · 42 km away, in St. Thomas |
| Former Canada Southern Railway Station, St. Thomas, OntarioHeritage Railway Station · 1871–1874 · 42 km away, in St. Thomas |
| First Commercial Oil FieldNational Historic Site · 1858–1859 · 46 km away, in Enniskillen |
| Canadian National Railways/VIA Rail Station, Chatham, OntarioHeritage Railway Station · 1879–1880 · 50 km away, in Chatham |
Little new building in West Lorne: 1% of homes date from 2016 to 2021, against 4.1%
Few of West Lorne’s homes date from 2001 to 2015: 7.1%, the norm 15%. Half of the homes standing in West Lorne today were built before 1981. 24% of West Lorne’s homes were built from 1961 to 1980, close to 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.
Lives that started in West Lorne, 1834–1872
The longest life was Archibald J. McLean’s: 73 years, to 1933. Colin MacDougall is the most written about, in 4 languages. There are 3 people born here before 1914 with an article to show for it.
Everyone born in West Lorne → Born before 1914 (the page’s periods: Confederation to the First World War). Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s Wikipedia article.
How West Lorne compares with 16 towns its size
Towns of 5,500 to 5,600 residents, by places on the registers.
Just these have more: Hudson, Memramcook, Wolfville and Carp. Their median is 0. 12 of them have none.
West Lorne and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Lorne | 5,566 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Dutton | 4,686 | 0 | 0 | — |
West Lorne in brief
Of the homes standing in West Lorne, 48% went up before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. The town’s people of the past are Colin MacDougall (1834), Archibald J. McLean (1860) and Hugh Cummings McKillop (1872). Most towns its size have more historic places: the typical one has 0.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about West Lorne’s history
How many historic places does West Lorne have on the registers?
Nothing inside West Lorne; Battle Hill in Glencoe, 14 km away, is the nearest and of the highest rank.
How old are the homes in West Lorne?
The 2021 Census dates 48% 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).