TopNational Historic Site · 1781–1782Governors' Cottage90 Chemin des PatriotesPhoto: Fralambert · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
Église de Saint-Pierre de Sorel · Photo: Fralambert · CC BY-SA 4.08historic places on the registers
History of Sorel-Tracy · Canada’s heritage registers
Fort Richelieu, from 1641, is Sorel-Tracy’s oldest designated place
The lists give Sorel-Tracy 8 historic places, 7 in the top tier. Scaled to its population, 2.2 per 10,000 residents beats 87% of Canadian towns. Among the places are a provincial or municipal listing. Wikidata gives March 15, 2000 for the municipality, whether that is when it was founded, incorporated or merged.
Historic places
8
2.2 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
7
National Historic Sites, classified federal buildings and Québec’s classements
Provincial and local listings
1
municipal citations on Québec’s register
Oldest building
1641
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
26%
typical town: 18%
In pictures
6 of 7 top-tier places in Sorel-Tracy, pictured
Among them: Église de Saint-Pierre de Sorel and Site archéologique Mandeville. Photos show 7 of the places Sorel-Tracy’s registers name; the others show their record instead. For 3 of Sorel-Tracy’s places, old views sit on the place’s own page.
Site archéologique Mandeville
Governors' Cottage
Presbytère Christ Church de Sorel-Tracy
Carré Royal
Église Christ Church de Sorel-Tracy+2See all photosPhotos 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.
Through time
Back in time: Sorel-Tracy, 1695–1925
On one line by date: the oldest views of 3 of its historic places. Every picture opens full screen, credit and all.
1695
1781
c. 1925Public 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.
How old
Sorel-Tracy’s dated places lean to the years before Confederation
Each place by the first construction date on its record.
New France before 17602
British North America 1760–18664
After Confederation 1867–19130
Wars and Depression 1914–19450
Since 1946 1946 on0
6 of the 6 dated places were built before Confederation.
The map
Where Sorel-Tracy’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designationsProvincial and local listings400 m from Carré Royal
3 of 7within 400 m of Carré Royal, the heart of the town’s history
Each dot is a place: point at it for the name, tap it for its page.
The 8, by tier
7 Highest designations1 Provincial and local listings
In Québec the record is fuller than elsewhere: beside Parks Canada’s designations, the province’s register lists its classements and every municipal citation.
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
7 places in Sorel-Tracy with the highest designation
By designation: 5 places classified by Québec and 2 National Historic Sites. National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. The oldest, Fort Richelieu, dates from 1642; the newest from 1843. Each one opens its own page.
TopClassified heritage building (Québec) · 1826–1831Église de Saint-Pierre de Sorelrue GeorgePhoto: Fralambert · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons file
TopClassified heritage building (Québec) · 1842–1843Église Christ Church de Sorel-Tracy75 rue du PrincePhoto: Bouchecl · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
TopClassified heritage building (Québec) · 1843Presbytère Christ Church de Sorel-Tracy79 rue du PrincePhoto: Bouchecl · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
TopClassified heritage building (Québec)Carré Royalrue Charlotte¤ rue du Prince¤ rue du Roi¤ rue GeorgePhoto: Bouchecl · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
TopClassified heritage site (Québec)Site archéologique Mandeville13500 chemin Saint-RochPhoto: Cantons-de-l'Est · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons file
National Historic Site · 1642–1643Fort Richelieu
What’s designated
Sorel-Tracy’s record leans to churches and religious buildings: 38%
Two of the highest-ranked are Fort Richelieu and Governors' Cottage. 2 places make forts and military buildings the second group. The record covers 5 kinds of building and site.
Churches and religious buildings3
Forts and military buildings2
Public buildings1
Houses1
Other places1
Each place sits in one group, from its name first, then the uses its register lists.
Provincial and local listings
One more place Sorel-Tracy or its province protects
Citations the municipality has made, registered with Québec’s ministry of culture. Each one opens its own page.
LocalNational historic site of Canada · 1641Fort RichelieuPhoto: Fralambert · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
Homes by age
Old houses stand out in Sorel-Tracy: 26% predate 1961, where most towns have 18%
More of Sorel-Tracy’s homes were built from 1961 to 1980 than in any other period: 41%. Homes built from 2016 to 2021 are 3.3% of Sorel-Tracy’s, about the typical 4.1%. Sorel-Tracy built little from 1981 to 2000: 18% of its homes, where most towns have 23%.
26%
Before 1961
41%
1961–80
18%
1981–2000
12%
2001–15
3.3%
2016–21
Sorel-TracyTypical 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
From 1713 to 1912: lives that began in Sorel-Tracy
9 Wikipedias cover Robert Nelson, the most of anyone here. The federal list of national historic persons names Dorimène Roy Desjardins. 30 people on the record were born here before 1914. Of them all, Thomas Gummersall Anderson lived longest: 96 years, until 1875. The 20 best known are on the timeline.
Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye
Pierre Gaultier de La Vérendrye
Marie-Louise Plante
Robert Jones
Robert Nelson
Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury
Norman Kittson
Joseph Beaudreau
Jean-Baptiste Labelle
Michel Mathieu
Louis-Pierre-Paul Cardin
Dorimène Roy Desjardins
Charles Ignace Adélard Gill
Arthur Cardin
Joseph-Willie Robidoux
Amanda Alarie
Alice Nolin
Roland Paulhus
Wildor Larochelle
Gérard Cournoyer
170017501800185019001950
RN
Robert Nelson1794–1873 · Canadian politician
Dorimène Roy Desjardins1858–1932 · On Canada’s list since 2012 · Canadian businesswoman
CG
Charles Ignace Adélard Gill1871–1918 · Canadian artist
Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye1713–1736 · Canadian explorer
Michel Mathieu1838–1916 · Canadian politician
Arthur Cardin1879–1946 · Canadian politician
Clément-Charles Sabrevois de Bleury1798–1862 · Canadian politician
JL
Jean-Baptiste Labelle1836–1887 · Canadian ship captain and politician
Everyone born in Sorel-Tracy → Born before 1914. Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against Wikipedia; national historic persons from Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, matched by name and life years.
Towns its size
Sorel-Tracy has the most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 35,900 to 37,200 residents, by places on the registers.
Sorel-Tracy8
Their median is 0. For 9, the registers list nothing.
Neighbours
Sorel-Tracy and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sorel-Tracy | 36,537 | 8 | 7 | 1641 |
| Saint-Joseph-de-Sorel | 1,602 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Ignace-de-Loyola | 2,170 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sainte-Victoire-de-Sorel | 2,599 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sainte-Anne-de-Sorel | 2,770 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Berthierville | 4,591 | 5 | 5 | 1782 |
| Sainte-Geneviève-de-Berthier | 2,298 | 0 | 0 | — |
In brief
Sorel-Tracy in brief
Of the homes standing in Sorel-Tracy, 26% went up before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. All told, the registers hold 8 historic places, 7 with the highest designation, Fort Richelieu among them. No town its size has more historic places: it leads the 16 nearest in population. Around Carré Royal, 3 of the places of the highest designation lie within 400 m.
4 of the 6 dated places belong to the years before Confederation. Its people of the past include Robert Nelson (1794), Dorimène Roy Desjardins (1858) and Charles Ignace Adélard Gill (1871). The other figures are unremarkable: the list grew between 1923 and 1975.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Protection. Québec’s classements and citations carry legal protection: work on a classified building needs the minister’s authorization, on a cited one the municipality’s. Federal designations commemorate.
- 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.
- People and events. National historic persons carry no place in the open file. They appear on a town’s page when born there (same name, same birth and death years) or when a historic place inside it carries their name and its record names them with their dates; national historic events don’t appear.
- The grade. History isn’t one of Canada’s graded pillars, so this page describes and compares without a letter.
- Québec’s register. The Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec is open data, so the province’s own designations and its municipalities’ citations are here in full.
- The federal register. The federal list is complete and open: Parks Canada’s directory for the designations, the Canadian Register of Historic Places for what each one is and why it matters.
- Map points. Where a federal place sits on the map is Wikidata’s placing; the directory itself has no coordinates.
Questions about Sorel-Tracy’s history
What is the oldest building in Sorel-Tracy?
By its record, Fort Richelieu, from 1641 (National historic site of Canada).
Which places in Sorel-Tracy have the highest designation?
Fort Richelieu, Governors' Cottage, Église de Saint-Pierre de Sorel, Église Christ Church de Sorel-Tracy, Presbytère Christ Church de Sorel-Tracy and Carré Royal, and 1 more.
How old are the homes in Sorel-Tracy?
26% predate 1961, where the typical town has 18%.
Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (Parks Canada). Québec register data: Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec, CC BY 4.0.
Sources: Parks Canada, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations · Canadian Register of Historic Places (federal extract) · Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec (MCC, Données Québec) · 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).