Old Woodstock Town Hall · Photo: Balcer · Public domain
2historic places on the registers
History of Woodstock · Canada’s heritage registers
2 historic places in Woodstock, one of them a top designation
Counted by designation, there are a heritage railway station. Old Woodstock Town Hall, begun in 1853, is the oldest by its record. Measured against its size, Woodstock’s 0.4 per 10,000 residents puts it ahead of 73% of Canadian towns. Behind these stands one more local or provincial listing that only Wikidata records.
You can start with Old Woodstock Town Hall and “Former Canadian National Railways (VIA Rail) Station, Woodstock, Ontario”. The photos cover both places on Woodstock’s registers.
Photos from Wikimedia Commons, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the place’s page. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
How it began
Woodstock’s beginnings, from 1800
The Woodstock area was first settled in 1800. In Wikidata’s entry, the municipality of Woodstock dates from 1851; that can mean a founding, a charter or a merger. Woodstock was incorporated as a town in 1851.
By 1885 the place had a station: Woodstock railway station.
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designationsOther federal designations
Dots open their places’ pages; hover first to read the name.
The 2, by tier
1 Highest designations1 Other federal designations
Most entries are federal, from Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations; local listings outside Québec are known only through Wikidata items with an article.
Points from Wikidata (Parks Canada’s files carry none) and from Québec’s register, as mapped there.
Highest designations
One place in Woodstock with the highest designation
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. Each one opens its own page.
The heritage closest to Woodstock: Arlington Hotel, at 30 km
Their towns number 23: Central London, Brantford and Waterloo first. Among them are 24 provincial or municipal listings, 18 National Historic Sites and 4 heritage railway stations. Her Majesty's / St. Paul's Chapel of the Mohawks, 42 km off, is the oldest: 1785.
The 12 nearest, within 50 km
Arlington HotelDesignated heritage property (part IV) · 1850 · 30 km away, in Paris
Castle KilbrideNational Historic Site · 1877–1879 · 30 km away, in New Hamburg
ArmouryRecognized Federal Heritage Building · 1893–1894 · 39 km away, in Brantford
Bell HomesteadNational Historic Site · 1858–1859 · 39 km away, in Brantford
Homes by age
New homes stand out in Woodstock: 9.8% from 2016–21, where most towns have 4.1%
At 28%, Woodstock’s share of pre-1961 homes is above the typical town’s 18%. 19% of Woodstock’s homes were built from 2001 to 2015, more than the typical town’s 15%. Count back from today and half of Woodstock’s homes are older than 1981.
28%
Before 1961
23%
1961–80
21%
1981–2000
19%
2001–15
9.8%
2016–21
WoodstockTypical 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
Before 1914, Woodstock gave 23 lives to the record
Most of them, 15 of 23, came into the world in the decades after Confederation. The earliest is Robert William Weir Carrall, born in 1837. By Wikipedia’s reach, Thomas Kearns leads, with 13 articles. Longest lived was George Pattullo, 88 years in all (1967). Only the 20 best known fit the timeline.
Robert William Weir Carrall
Malcolm Smith Schell
James Woods
Wallace Nesbitt
Thomas Kearns
Edward G. Kingsford
John Millar
George Arthur Fraser
Annie L. MacKinnon
Harold Fraser
Evelyn Fletcher Copp
Thomas Dufferin Pattullo
Isabel Ecclestone Mackay
George Pattullo
R.T.M. Scott
Frank Sandercock
Norman E. Cook
George Matheson Murray
Hugh Farthing
George Owen Johnson
1800182518501875190019251950
Thomas Kearns1862–1918 · United States Senator from Utah
HF
Harold Fraser1872–1945 · Amateur golfer
Thomas Dufferin Pattullo1873–1956 · Canadian politician
RS
R.T.M. Scott1882–1966 · Canadian author
Wallace Nesbitt1858–1930 · Canadian judge
George Pattullo1879–1967 · Canadian writer and screenwriter
George Owen Johnson1896–1980 · Canadian flying ace and air marshal
Robert William Weir Carrall1837–1879 · Canadian politician
Everyone born in Woodstock → Born before 1914 (the page’s periods: Confederation to the First World War). Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s Wikipedia article.
Woodstock’s homes from before 1961 come to 28%, against 18% in the typical town. In all there are 2 historic places, one with the highest designation, including Old Woodstock Town Hall. Of its people of the past, the best known are Thomas Kearns (1862), Harold Fraser (1872) and Thomas Dufferin Pattullo (1873). The rest is about typical: 2 historic places is about usual for its size (the median is 1); and the designations ran from 1955 to 1994.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
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.
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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.
•
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.
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The grade. This page gives no grade; history doesn’t count toward a Canadian town’s letter.
•
Map points. Parks Canada publishes no coordinates, so federal places are pinned where Wikidata puts them.
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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.
•
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.
Questions about Woodstock’s history
Which places in Woodstock have the highest designation?
Just one: Old Woodstock Town Hall.
What is the oldest building in Woodstock?
Old Woodstock Town Hall (National Historic Site): the first construction date on its record is 1853.
How old are the homes in Woodstock?
28% of its homes were built before 1961, against 18% in the typical Canadian town.
Why might a heritage building in Woodstock be missing here?
Only federal designations are fully open outside Québec. One more listing in Woodstock 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.
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