TopClassified heritage building (Québec) · 1831–1832Chapelle de procession Saint-Joachimrue Sainte-AnnePhoto: Gilles Douaire from Montreal, Quebec, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons file
Chapelle de procession Saint-Joachim · Photo: Gilles Douaire from Montreal, Quebec, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.05historic places on the registers
History of Varennes · Canada’s heritage registers
Varennes keeps a building from 1750: Maison Joseph-Petit-Dit-Beauchemin
Inside Varennes there are 5 historic places, all of them top designations. For every 10,000 residents that makes 2.3, ahead of 87% of Canadian towns. Wikidata gives 1722 for the municipality, whether that is when it was founded, incorporated or merged. Few homes are old by the census: 8.4% before 1961, against 18%.
Historic places
5
2.3 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
5
National Historic Sites, classified federal buildings and Québec’s classements
Oldest building
1750
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
8.4%
typical town: 18%
In pictures
2 of 5 top-tier places in Varennes, pictured
Of Varennes’s most honoured places, 2 are photographed. 2 designated places in Varennes have a photo. Chapelle de procession Saint-Joachim and Sainte Anne Processional Chapel lead the set.
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 old
Most of Varennes’s dated places come from the years before Confederation
Each place by the first construction date on its record.
New France before 17601
British North America 1760–18664
After Confederation 1867–19130
Wars and Depression 1914–19450
Since 1946 1946 on0
5 of the 5 dated places are older than Confederation.
The map
Where Varennes’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designations
Names show on hover, and a tap takes you to the place’s page.
The 5, by tier
5 Highest designations
Parks Canada’s federal directory and Québec’s Répertoire du patrimoine culturel supply these places: federal designations, the province’s classements and the municipalities’ citations.
Points from Wikidata (Parks Canada’s files carry none) and from Québec’s register, as mapped there.
Highest designations
5 places in Varennes with the highest designation
Their dates run from 1750, with Maison Joseph-Petit-Dit-Beauchemin, to 1862. National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. They were designated between 1962 and 1984. Each one opens its own page.
TopClassified heritage building (Québec) · 1862–1863Sainte Anne Processional Chapel290 rue Sainte-AnnePhoto: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
Classified heritage building (Québec) · 1750Maison Joseph-Petit-Dit-Beaucheminmontée de Picardie
Classified heritage building (Québec) · 1829Calvaire de Varennes2511 rue Sainte-Anne
Classified heritage building (Québec) · 1840–1845Hangar à grain Jodoin4681 chemin de la Baronnie
What’s designated
More churches and religious buildings than anything else in Varennes: 60%
Leading by designation: Maison Joseph-Petit-Dit-Beauchemin and Calvaire de Varennes.
Churches and religious buildings3
Houses1
Other places1
Each place sits in one group, from its name first, then the uses its register lists.
Homes by age
The biggest share of Varennes’s homes dates from 1981 to 2000: 51%
Half of the homes standing in Varennes today were built before 2001. Homes built from 2016 to 2021 make up just 3.2% of Varennes’s, below the typical 4.1%. 23% of Varennes’s homes were built from 1961 to 1980, close to the typical town’s 27%.
8.4%
Before 1961
23%
1961–80
51%
1981–2000
15%
2001–15
3.2%
2016–21
VarennesTypical 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
Varennes’s people of the past, born 1701–1909
Of them all, Aignan-Aimé Massue lived longest: 85 years, until 1866. Best known is Marguerite d'Youville, with articles in 15 Wikipedia languages. There are 21 people born here before 1914 with an article to show for it. The years before Confederation gave 15 of the 21. The 20 best known are on the timeline.
Marguerite d'Youville
Charles-François Bailly de Messein
Aignan-Aimé Massue
Théophile Lemay
Louis Massue
Michel Laframboise
Timothée Brodeur
François-Maurice Lepailleur
Joseph Guibord
Marc-Amable Girard
Louis Huet Massue
Louis-Adélard Senécal
Félix Geoffrion
Théodore Robitaille
Louis Robitaille
Albert-Alexandre Lussier
Christophe-Alphonse Geoffrion
Amédée Geoffrion
Aimé Langlois
Joseph Langlois
170017501800185019001950
Marguerite d'Youville1701–1771 · Canadian saint
Théodore Robitaille1834–1897 · Canadian politician
Christophe-Alphonse Geoffrion1843–1899 · Canadian politician
Marc-Amable Girard1822–1892 · Canadian politician
Charles-François Bailly de Messein1740–1794 · Catholic bishop
Félix Geoffrion1832–1894 · Canadian politician
AG
Amédée Geoffrion1867–1935 · Canadian politician
Aimé Langlois1880–1954 · Canadian politician
Everyone born in Varennes → 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
Varennes has the most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 21,400 to 21,600 residents, by places on the registers.
Varennes5
The typical town its size has 0. 11 of them have none.
Neighbours
Varennes and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Varennes | 21,490 | 5 | 5 | 1750 |
| Pointe-aux-Trembles | 49,869 | 4 | 3 | 1690 |
| Charlemagne | 6,695 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Montréal-Est | 5,112 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Boucherville | 41,910 | 11 | 7 | 1727 |
| Repentigny | 91,290 | 3 | 3 | 1723 |
| Rivière-des-Prairies | 21,852 | 3 | 1 | 1732 |
In brief
Varennes in brief
The registers count 5 historic places in Varennes, 5 with the highest designation, Maison Joseph-Petit-Dit-Beauchemin first. Among the 16 towns nearest its size, none has more historic places. the years before Confederation account for 4 of the 5 dated places.
Among the lives from its past: Marguerite d'Youville (1701), Théodore Robitaille (1834) and Christophe-Alphonse Geoffrion (1843). Its housing is young: only 8.4% predates 1961, against 18% in the typical town. Beyond that, the designations ran from 1962 to 1984.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 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.
- Québec’s register. In Québec the ministry of culture publishes its register openly: provincial classements, declared sites and the municipalities’ citations all appear, with their descriptions.
- 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. History isn’t one of Canada’s graded pillars, so this page describes and compares without a letter.
- 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.
- 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.
Questions about Varennes’s history
What is the oldest building in Varennes?
Maison Joseph-Petit-Dit-Beauchemin — its record dates it to 1750 (Classified heritage building (Québec)).
Which places in Varennes have the highest designation?
Maison Joseph-Petit-Dit-Beauchemin, Calvaire de Varennes, Chapelle de procession Saint-Joachim, Hangar à grain Jodoin and Sainte Anne Processional Chapel.
How old are the homes in Varennes?
The 2021 Census dates 8.4% of its homes before 1961 (18% in the typical town).
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).