Sarnia, Ontario (1871 census)
Sarnia was a census subdivision in Ontario, recorded in the 1871 Census of Canada with a population of 3,438. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q115262762. The administrative centroid was at approximately 42.965°N, 82.323°W.
Population
In 1871, Sarnia had a population of 3,438: 1,806 male and 1,632 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 1,560 |
| 1871 | 3,438 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Boundary continuity (non-identical overlaps)
Spatial polygon overlaps with adjacent census years where the boundary shifted enough that the SAME_AS chain didn't merge them. These show where the territory came from and went to even when it isn't tracked as the same persistent place.
Later boundary forms
- In a later year, this CSD contained Point Edward, VL, 1881 (0.4% of this CSD's polygon).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1871
In the 1871 census, Sarnia shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1871
The 1871 census recorded 18 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1871). This community's record includes 3,438 total population, 1,806 males, 1,632 females, 1,103 married persons, 643 families, 552 married males, 551 married females, 102 widowed persons, 68 widowed females, 34 widowed males. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1871). This community's record includes 2,233 single persons under 18, 1,220 single males under 18, 1,013 single females under 18. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1871). This community's record includes 639 inhabited houses, 639 occupied houses, 10 uninhabited houses, 6 houses under construction. (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1871). This community's record includes 47,409 total area (acres). (Source: 1871 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
ON004006— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_ON004006— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q115262762
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1871 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). "Sarnia, Ontario (1871 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/on/sarnia-on004006-1871/.