TopNational Historic Site · 1883–1888Former Summerside Post Office57 Summer StreetPhoto: Nicole Bratt from San Francisco, CA, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons file
Former Summerside Post Office · Photo: Nicole Bratt from San Francisco, CA, USA · CC BY-SA 2.03historic places on the registers
History of Summerside · Canada’s heritage registers
Summerside: 3 historic places, one with the highest designation
Among the places are a provincial or municipal listing and a Recognized Federal Heritage Building. Tower, begun in 1881, is the oldest by its record. Scaled to its population, Summerside’s 1.6 per 10,000 residents beats 83% of Canadian towns. 113 more places on provincial or local lists are counted from Wikidata without pages.
Historic places
3
1.6 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
1
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Other federal designations
1
Recognized buildings, railway stations, lighthouses
Provincial and local listings
1
provincial and municipal listings with an encyclopedia article
Oldest building
1881
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
28%
typical town: 18%
In pictures
2 pictures of heritage Summerside
2 designated places in Summerside have a photo. Former Summerside Post Office and Summerside station lead the set. The oldest place pictured in Summerside is Former Summerside Post Office, from 1883.
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.
The map
Where Summerside’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designationsProvincial and local listings
Tap any dot to open that place’s own page; hovering shows its name.
The 3, by tier
1 Highest designations1 Other federal designations1 Provincial and local listings
What the map shows is the open record: the federal directory in full, and from provincial or municipal lists only the places Wikidata ties to an encyclopedia article.
Points from Wikidata (Parks Canada’s files carry none) and from Québec’s register, as mapped there. One place, placed by its register’s municipality, has no point and isn’t on the map.
Highest designations
One place in Summerside with the highest designation
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. Each one opens its own page.
Other federal designations
Federal heritage in Summerside: one more place
Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings, heritage railway stations and lighthouses. Each one opens its own page.
Recognized Federal Heritage Building · 1881–1882Tower
Provincial and local listings
On a provincial or local list in Summerside: one place
Provincial and municipal listings that Wikidata records and an encyclopedia describes. Each one opens its own page.
LocalHomes by age
A town of older homes: 28% of Summerside’s were built before 1961 (18% is typical)
Half of the homes standing in Summerside today were built before 1981. From 2016 to 2021 Summerside added 6.7% of its homes, more than the typical town’s 4.1%. 27% of Summerside’s homes were built from 1961 to 1980, close to the typical town’s 27%.
28%
Before 1961
27%
1961–80
24%
1981–2000
15%
2001–15
6.7%
2016–21
SummersideTypical 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
9 lives that began in Summerside before 1914
The last born is Charles Cahill, in 1904. Eric McKay reached 95, the longest life here, ending in 1994. By Wikipedia’s reach, Albert Charles Saunders leads, with 4 articles. Alfred Lefurgey comes first, born in 1871.
Alfred Lefurgey
Sydney D. Heckbert
Albert Charles Saunders
Creelman MacArthur
Harry O. Haslam
Clayton Adams
Thane Campbell
Eric McKay
Charles Cahill
18501875190019251950
Albert Charles Saunders1874–1943 · Canadian politician
Thane Campbell1895–1978 · Canadian politician
CC
Charles Cahill1904–1954 · Canadian ice hockey player
Alfred Lefurgey1871–1934 · Canadian politician
CM
Creelman MacArthur1874–1943 · Canadian politician
Eric McKay1899–1994 · Canadian politician
Harry O. Haslam1874–1945 · Canadian politician
SH
Sydney D. Heckbert1873–1953 · Canadian politician
Everyone born in Summerside → Born before 1914 (the page’s periods: Confederation to the First World War). Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s Wikipedia article.
Towns its size
Summerside has the 3rd most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 18,700 to 19,400 residents, by places on the registers.
Summerside3
Only L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève and Granville Entertainment District have more. The middle one has 0. 11 of them have none.
Neighbours
Summerside and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summerside | 19,006 | 3 | 1 | 1881 |
| Miscouche | 1,113 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Kensington, Part 1 | 3,357 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Kensington | 2,016 | 1 | 1 | 1904 |
| Kinkora | 1,416 | 1 | 0 | 1864 |
| Malpeque Bay | 1,351 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Wellington | 1,972 | 1 | 0 | 1883 |
In brief
Summerside in brief
Counted by age, 28% of Summerside’s homes predate 1961, against 18% in the typical town. All told, the registers hold 3 historic places, one with the highest designation, Former Summerside Post Office among them. Of the 16 towns closest in size, just 2 have more historic places. Its people of the past include Albert Charles Saunders (1874), Thane Campbell (1895) and Charles Cahill (1904). The other figures are unremarkable: the list grew between 1983 and 1991.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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. There is no history grade: the page sets out the record and compares it with other towns.
- 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. Tiers follow the designation: national recognition and classement first, other federal designations next, provincial and local listings last.
- Protection. A National Historic Site designation recognises significance; it doesn’t by itself protect a building the federal government doesn’t own. Legal protection comes from provincial and municipal designations, whose own registers aren’t open data outside Québec.
- 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.
- Map points. Where a federal place sits on the map is Wikidata’s placing; the directory itself has no coordinates.
Questions about Summerside’s history
Which places in Summerside have the highest designation?
Just one: Former Summerside Post Office.
What is the oldest building in Summerside?
Tower — its record dates it to 1881 (Recognized Federal Heritage Building).
How old are the homes in Summerside?
28% of its homes were built before 1961, against 18% in the typical Canadian town.
Why might a heritage building in Summerside be missing here?
Provincial and municipal registers outside Québec aren’t open data. Wikidata knows 113 more listings in Summerside, but without an open description or an encyclopedia article they get no page.
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).