Elma, Ontario (1881 census)
Elma was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 4,421. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115261391. The administrative centroid was at approximately 43.655°N, 81.011°W.
Population
In 1881, Elma had a population of 4,421: 2,279 male and 2,142 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | — |
| 1861 | 2,392 |
| 1871 | 3,616 |
| 1881 | 4,421 |
| 1891 | 4,231 |
| 1901 | 4,159 |
| 1911 | 3,789 |
| 1921 | 3,374 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1881
In the 1881 census, Elma shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 33 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1881). This community's record includes 4,421 total population, 2,279 males, 2,142 females, 1,366 married persons, 783 families, 685 married females, 681 married males, 104 widowed persons, 73 widowed females, 31 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 2,951 single persons under 18, 1,567 single males under 18, 1,384 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 767 inhabited houses, 767 occupied houses, 17 houses under construction, 7 uninhabited houses. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 182,010 bushels of turnips, 142,341 bushels of oats, 67,880 bushels of winter wheat, 57,939 bushels of potatoes, 50,809 bushels of peas and beans, 32,215 bushels of other root crops, 16,592 bushels of spring wheat, 11,077 bushels of barley, 7,118 tons of hay, 6,343 acres of wheat, 5,548 acres of hay crops, 460 acres of potatoes, 125 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 63 bushels of rye, 56 bushels of corn, 2 bushels of buckwheat. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T24.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 1 person connected to this place who were alive in 1881, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| William Lochhead | 1864–1927 | born here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 4,421 individuals enumerated here, with name, age, sex, religion, ethnic origin, birthplace, and occupation. Source: TCP/Dillon 1881 Canadian Census deposit at Borealis.
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON172005— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON137006— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q115261391
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1881 Census of Canada, transcribed and georeferenced by the Canadian Peoples / TCP project, hosted at the HGIS Lab, University of Saskatchewan. Persistent place identity computed from spatial-overlap chains across all available census years (1851–1921). Identity grounding to Wikidata performed via the HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph project's MCP-assisted disambiguation pipeline. See the About / Methodology page for the full data pipeline.
Cite this page
Clifford, J. (2026). "Elma, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/elma-on172005-1881/.