York Factory was a settlement and factory (trading post) located on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay in northeastern Manitoba, Canada, at the mouth of the Hayes River, approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) south-southeast of Churchill. The settlement was headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Northern Department, from 1821 to 1873. It continued to operate as a fur trade post for over 270 years until 1957 when the company closed it down.
The complex was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1936. It has been owned by the Canadian government since 1968 and is now operated by Parks Canada. Aside from a summer residence for Parks Canada staff and nearby seasonal hunting camps there is currently no one living permanently at York Factory. The wooden structure at the park site dates from 1831 and is the oldest and largest wooden structure in Canada built on permafrost.
York Factory is currently located on the north bank of the Hayes River about 7 miles inland. To the north, across 'Point of Marsh' is the mouth of the Nelson River. Although the Nelson is much larger (it drains Lake Winnipeg), the Hayes is a more practical canoe route. Due to the shallow bottom sea-going ships anchored at Five Fathom Hole 7 miles from the fort and goods were transferred by smaller boats.
Read more about York Factory: History
Other articles related to "york factory, york, factory":
... During the 17th through late 19th century, the depot at York Factory and its predecessors were the central base of operations for company's control of the fur trade and ... Hayes river, naming it after the Duke of York ... In 1694 d'Iberville returned, and captured the factory with a show of force he renamed it Fort Bourbon ...
... Therefore, most of the Hudson's Bay Company's trade was done from York Factory on the Hayes ... An early version of York Factory was built nearby in 1684 ... in Tyrell 1931124)." In 1989 Parks Canada began the York Factory Oral History Project which included compiling stories by Swampy Cree Elders ...
... experience in inland travel after arriving at York Factory ... October 1754 he and his group came to what is now Alberta from York Factory with a mission to meet the Blackfoot and perhaps trade with them ... (which Henday took as a “no”), Henday traveled back to York Factory with news that he had explored the area and had met with the Blackfoot ...
... La Pérouse then collected most of the company's small boats, and sailed for York Factory, a company outpost on a peninsula between the Hayes and Nelson Rivers, on August 11 ... about 5 leagues (15 miles 24 km) from York, on August 20 ... York Factory was occupied by 60 white men and 12 Indians ...
... Whitewater Rural Municipality of Whitewater York Factory York Factory National Historic Site of Canada Although not really a town, York Factory is an abandoned fur trading post ...
Famous quotes containing the words factory and/or york:
“I cannot believe that our factory system is the best mode by which men may get clothing. The condition of the operatives is becoming every day more like that of the English; and it cannot be wondered at, since, as far as I have heard or observed, the principal object is, not that mankind may be well and honestly clad, but, unquestionably, that the corporations may be enriched.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We didn’t want any men in our group. They drink their loans, they don’t work their stores. Why should we have to pay for their irresponsibilities?”
—Brachiate Guioth De Espinosa, Colombian storekeeper. As quoted in the New York Times, p. A6 (July 15, 1994)