The Canada 1921 Census was a detailed enumeration of the entire Canadian population. The census count begun on 1 June 1921 and when it was complete, the population of Regina was counted as 34,432. This was an increase of 14% from the 1911 Census for the city of Regina, Saskatchewan.
The Germantown Area
You may be interested to know that that a single area of Regina called Germantown might be important for you to search for Romanian ancestors.
Learn more about it in the article: Germantown
1921 Census
This is what the 1921 Census Sub-Districts look like when you overlay them on the modern map of Regina. Also overlayed on the map is the historical area of the city nicknamed Germantown.
Why have I done this work of creating these overlays? There are a small number of reasons:
- Each census uses different naming and numbering for Districts and Sub-Districts so if you have an address you want to check you can waste a lot of time figuring each census out
- Websites that make these census' available to you on-line have not done this work for some reason - my gift to you
- Handwriting on a census can be nearly impossible to read sometimes unless you know what it might be saying. Once you have an idea for what valid street names or addresses might be for a Sub-District you may suddenly be able to read what looked to be unreadable.
- Just because different websites have tried to make the census' searchable does mean that the people who indexed them could read them any better than you. This goes for the names of the people who appear on the census, the addresses and just about any other field captured.
- I found that each time I had to go back to a census to look for someone new I had to re-learn things about the census or the Sub-District. What you see here could be considered to be notes that I consider to be important to get back up to speed.
The Map
I noted some street name changes in the 1916 Census in Sub-District 3N, although that area has nothing to do wth Germantown:
- Wallace Street (700-1300 Block), north of the tracks, was named Laird Street
- Atkinson Street (900-1300 Block), north of the tracks, was know as Young Street
- Broder Street (900-1300 Block), north of the tracks, was named Scott Street
- Reynolds Street, north of the tracks, was Boss Street
- Edgar Street (900-1000 Block), north of the tracks, was Haultain Street
- Lindsay Street (900-1000 Block), north of the tracks, was called Bulyea Street
In 1916 Census in Sub-District 3P there were some street name changes:
- Wallace Street (2000-2300 Block), south of Victoria Avenue, was named Stewart Street
- Atkinson Street (1800-1900 Block) , north of Victoria Avenue, was named Armour Street
- Broder Street (1800-1900 Block), north of Victoria Avenue, was named Moir Street
- Reynolds Street (1800-1900 Block), north of Victoria Avenue, was named Williams Street
- Reynolds Street (2000 Block), south of Victoria Avenue did NOT have it's name changed, however the Census-taker spelled Reynolds as "Ronald" for one side of the street.
- Elliot Street (2000-2100 Block), south of Victoria Avenue, was named Shaw Street
- Lindsay Street (2000-2200 Block), south of Victoria Avenue did NOT have it's name changed. The Census-taker spelled Lindsay as "Linzie".
- MacKay Street (2100 Block), north of 14th Avenue is not in the census. McAra and Francis on either side of McKay are collected. I don't know if the Census-taker named it wrong, missed it or if there weren't any houses on it to poll.
Germantown and the 1921 Census
This is what the area looks like when I overlay the 1921 Regina Census with Germantown. As you can see, if you want to check the area for YOUR family, concentrate on sub-districts 21, 22, 27, 34 and 35 (in the Regina 225 district).
In sub-district 35 it is important to know that three of the streets have been renamed since 1921. I wasn't able to find out when. In 1921, within sub-district 35:
- Atkinson Street today used to be called Armour Street (do not confuse it with the Armour Street that exists in Regina today)
- Reynolds Street used to be named Williams Street (do not confuse it with the Williams Street that currently exists)
- Broder Street was formerly named Moir Street in that sub-district and Regina does not currently have a Moir Street
Year | Country | Province | District Name | District No. | Sub-District Name | Sub-District | See it! |
1921 | Canada | Saskatchewan | Regina | 225 | Regina (City) | 21 | Ancestry.ca |
1921 | Canada | Saskatchewan | Regina | 225 | Regina (City) | 22 | Ancestry.ca |
1921 | Canada | Saskatchewan | Regina | 225 | Regina (City) | 27 | Ancestry.ca |
1921 | Canada | Saskatchewan | Regina | 225 | Regina (City) | 34 | Ancestry.ca |
1921 | Canada | Saskatchewan | Regina | 225 | Regina (City) | 35 | Ancestry.ca |
1921 | Canada | Saskatchewan | Regina | 225 | Regina (City) | 37 | Ancestry.ca |
1921 | Canada | Saskatchewan | Regina | 225 | Regina (City) | 38 | Ancestry.ca |
1921 | Canada | Saskatchewan | Regina | 225 | Regina (City) | 39 | Ancestry.ca |
1921 | Canada | Saskatchewan | Regina | 225 | Regina (City) | 40 | Ancestry.ca |
As in 1911 Census there are some special sub-districts that you might be interested in outside of Regina's Germantown in addition to the list above. I have marked the locations for each in the above map if you zoom out a bit. Let's pray your ancestors didn't spend any time in these institutions.
- Sub-District 37 -Home for Incurables
- When the city moved hospital services from the Victoria Hospital (built 1901) into the new General Hospital in 1907 the building was repurposed first as a dormitory for the Regina College and then in 1917 as the Regina Home for Incurables. In the 1921 Census sub-district 37 captures patients of the Home for Incurables which cared for the aged, infirm, blind, or patients with incurable diseases. The building was demolished in 1932.
- See Sub-District 37 in Ancestry.ca
- Sub-District 38 -Home for Defectives
- In the early 1900s, eugenics was popular in academic circles at the newly formed provincial university. Some people deemed mentally defective were sent to the “Home for Defectives” in Regina or, after 1914, to the first provincial mental hospital in North Battleford.
- See Sub-District 38 in Ancestry.ca
- Sub-District 39 -Jail
- Built in 1913 and has grown to today be a larger provincial correction centre. It replaced the old Regina jail that was previously located on land now occupied by the original University of Regina campus on College Avenue.
- See Sub-District 38 in Ancestry.ca
- Sub-District 40 -Boys Detention Home
- Regina Boys Detention Home, previously the Indian Industrial School. Prior to that it had been located in Wolseley, SK.
- See Sub-District 38 in Ancestry.ca