Find a Historic Place

Access Historic Place Data

The Heritage Branch shares data about post-1846 historic sites that can be used to support a variety of purposes such as land use decisions and heritage conservation initiatives.

Registered sites are sites that are officially recognized or protected by provincial, local government, or federal heritage conservation legislation. Recorded sites are historic sites that have been reported

BC Register of Historic Places (BCRHP) database (Coming Summer 2024)

• an online public database with interactive map to view registered historic site records of the Provincial Heritage Register.

Historic Places Spatial Layer (Public View)

• A geographic dataset of registered historic sites available for all users to export through the BC Data Catalogue

Historic Places Spatial Layer (Internal View)

• A geographic dataset of all registered, recorded, and legacy historic sites available for IDIR accounts to export and upon request for other users.

iMapBC

• Historic Places – Recognized - Public is a digital map layer available for all users to view and export.
• Historic Places – All Sites – Internal is a digital map layer available for IDIR accounts to export.

Remote Access to Archaeological Data (RAAD)

• A map layer of all registered, recorded, and legacy historic sites available in Archaeology Branch’s GIS application for Indigenous governments and authorized users.

Integrated Land and Resource Registry (ILRR)

• An application to generate queries, maps, reports of B.C. Crown legal interests and land status. This includes registered historic sites for BCeID users as well as recorded and legacy historic sites for IDIR accounts.

 

Other historic sites, museums and other locations

Explore the fascinating legacy of our past by simply travelling through the province. Our heritage is everywhere – just look around!

• Visit historic places
• Visit museums

The following provincial heritage properties are just a few of the historic places that appear on the BC and Canadian Registers of Historic Places that you can explore in British Columbia:

• Learn more about these unique provincial heritage properties

National Historic Sites in B.C.

B.C. is home to more than 90 National Historic Sites that include buildings, landscapes, railway stations and lighthouses. Here are just a few examples:

• Stanley Park National Historic Site
• Empress Hotel National Historic Site
• Fort McLeod National Historic Site
• Gitwangak Battle Hill National Historic Site

Unique Sites

It may surprise you to learn that these kinds of sites are valued as historic places.

Fossils

• Burgess Shale
• Wapiti Lake
• Driftwood Canyon
• McAbee

Underwater Sites

• Check out underwater archaeology and heritage protection in B.C.

Lighthouses

• Look up lighthouses in B.C. designated by the Government of Canada

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization works to protect natural and cultural sites worldwide. Why not visit the ones found in B.C.?

• Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
• Kluane/Wrangell-St Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek
• SGang Gwaay