Essa, Ontario (1881 census)
Essa was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 4,666. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115261414. The administrative centroid was at approximately 44.257°N, 79.812°W.
Population
In 1881, Essa had a population of 4,666: 2,431 male and 2,235 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1851 | 1,507 |
| 1861 | 2,904 |
| 1871 | 4,221 |
| 1881 | 4,666 |
| 1891 | 3,592 |
| 1901 | 3,438 |
| 1911 | 3,084 |
| 1921 | 2,910 |
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, Essa shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 34 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1881). This community's record includes 4,666 total population, 2,431 males, 2,235 females, 1,416 married persons, 838 families, 709 married females, 707 married males, 110 widowed persons, 74 widowed females, 36 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 3,140 single persons under 18, 1,688 single males under 18, 1,452 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 838 occupied houses, 834 inhabited houses, 27 uninhabited houses, 5 houses under construction, 4 dwellings that are temporary shanties. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 135,885 bushels of oats, 130,565 bushels of winter wheat, 69,813 bushels of potatoes, 61,332 bushels of barley, 38,987 bushels of turnips, 33,584 bushels of peas and beans, 30,420 bushels of spring wheat, 16,904 bushels of other root crops, 10,811 acres of wheat, 5,225 tons of hay, 4,142 acres of hay crops, 1,857 bushels of rye, 598 acres of potatoes, 201 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed, 171 bushels of corn, 124 bushels of buckwheat. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T24.)
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 4,666 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:
ON138006— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON144002— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q115261414
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). "Essa, Ontario (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/essa-on138006-1881/.