Photo: Joe Mabel (on Flickr as Joe Mabel from Seattle, US) · CC BY-SA 3.0Whitby in 4 old photographs, 1909–1943
The registers count 61 places within 50 km of Whitby; the closest, Parkwood, is 6.2 km away. Before 1961: just 8.2% of the homes, where most towns have 18%. Look 7.1 km away, to Oshawa, for the nearest place of the highest designation. Records name 11 people born in Whitby before 1914; the first is Thomas Paxton.
Whitby from 1909 to 1943
4 old photographs of the town, in date order. Tap any picture to see it full screen.
c. 1909
c. 1909
c. 1940
1943Public 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.
Around Whitby, within 50 km, the dated heritage reaches back to 1793
Reaching 50 km out from Whitby: the historic places by their first construction date on record.
Within 50 km, 59 records give a date. Before Confederation: 18. The earliest is Ashbridge Estate in Greenwood-Coxwell, begun in 1793.
Within 50 km of Whitby: 61 places on the registers
They belong to 35 towns, chiefly Downtown Yonge East, Yonge-Bay Corridor and Aurora. The record reaches back to 1793 with Ashbridge Estate, 41 km away. By designation: 41 National Historic Sites, 13 provincial or municipal listings and 5 heritage railway stations.
The 12 nearest, within 50 km
| ParkwoodNational Historic Site · 1915–1941 · 6.2 km away, in Oshawa |
| Thistle Ha' FarmNational Historic Site · 1840–1871 · 14 km away, in Pickering |
| Former Port Perry Town HallNational Historic Site · 1873–1874 · 22 km away, in Port Perry |
| Former Bowmanville Boys Training School/Camp 30National Historic Site · 1924–1941 · 22 km away, in Bowmanville |
| Markham Village Town HallDesignated heritage property (part IV) · 1881 · 26 km away, in Markham Village |
| Former Canadian National Railway Station, Markham, OntarioHeritage Railway Station · 1871–1872 · 26 km away, in Markham Village |
| Canadian National Railway Station, Unionville, OntarioHeritage Railway Station · 1871–1872 · 30 km away, in Unionville |
| Leaskdale ManseNational Historic Site · 1886–1887 · 37 km away, in Uxbridge |
| Ashbridge EstateOntario Heritage Trust property · 1793 · 41 km away, in Greenwood-Coxwell |
| Don Valley Brick WorksOntario Heritage Trust easement · 42 km away, in Leaside-Bennington |
| Aurora Radial Railway Bridge AbutmentDesignated heritage property (part IV) · 1899 · 42 km away, in Aurora |
| Canadian National Railway Station, Aurora, OntarioHeritage Railway Station · 1900–1901 · 42 km away, in Aurora |
Whitby is still building: 6.9% of homes date from 2016 to 2021, against 4.1%
The largest single period is from 1981 to 2000, with 36% of Whitby’s homes. 32% of Whitby’s homes were built from 2001 to 2015, more than the typical town’s 15%. Homes built from 1961 to 1980 make up just 17% of Whitby’s, against 27% in the typical town.
2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.
1820 to 1893: the people Whitby gave its past
6 of the 11 were born in the decades after Confederation. There are 11 people born here before 1914 with an article to show for it. Herbert Edwin Bradley reached 90, the longest life here, ending in 1961. The widest known is May Irwin: 16 Wikipedia editions.
Everyone born in Whitby → 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 Whitby compares with 16 towns its size
Towns of 142,500 to 184,100 residents, by places on the registers.
13 have more. The typical town its size has 6. For 3, the registers list nothing.
Whitby and its neighbours
Whitby in brief
Of its people of the past, the best known are May Irwin (1862), Hamar Greenwood, 1st Viscount Greenwood (1870) and Daniel Hunter McMillan (1846). Pre-1961 homes are a small part of its stock: 8.2%, against 18% in the typical town. Towns its size usually have more historic places; the middle one has 6.
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.
- The grade. History isn’t one of Canada’s graded pillars, so this page describes and compares without a letter.
- 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.
- 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 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.
Questions about Whitby’s history
How many historic places does Whitby have on the registers?
None in Whitby itself. The closest is Parkwood in Oshawa, 6.2 km away, a place of the highest rank.
When did Whitby become a municipality?
Wikidata gives 1855 for Whitby, which may mark incorporation or an amalgamation rather than a founding.
How old are the homes in Whitby?
Before 1961: 8.2% of its homes; the typical town has 18%.
Why might a heritage building in Whitby be missing here?
Only federal designations are fully open outside Québec. One more listing in Whitby is known through Wikidata alone, so it is counted, not paged.
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).