YORK FACTORY NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE OF CANADA ...

• the site’s heritage values are respected in all decisions and actions affecting
the site.
1.2 York Factory: A Place of National Historic Significance
York Factory was designated a national historic site in 1936. According to the
HSMBC recommendation at that time, York Factory is commemorated for its
critical role in the French-English struggle on Hudson Bay for the control of the
fur trade, as an important HBC trading post and entrepôt for more than two and a
half centuries, and as the principal base for expansion of the fur trade into the
interior of western Canada.
York Factory’s historical importance is summarized here. It is for the following
reasons that York Factory is protected and presented for the benefit of this and
future generations of Canadians.
The fur trade has a prominent place in Canada’s history and heritage. As one of
the oldest, continuously operated HBC posts in North America, York Factory
played a pivotal role in this history. It served variously as a trading post, a
distribution centre to other trading posts in the western interior, and was the
headquarters of the HBC’s vast Northern Department. The long history of the post
included York Factory I (known as York Fort, 1684-1715), York Factory II (1715-
1788) and York Factory III (1788-1957). York Factory I and II have been lost to
riverbank erosion of the Hayes River. York Factory NHSC is the site of York Factory
III.
York Factory on the Hayes River transport
route (L. Vasarevic Brunet)
York Factory was strategically
located to secure access to, and
thereby control trade in, a vast
northern territory of North
America that was rich in furbearing
animals. Hudson Bay
was the HBC’s transportation
route for furs to, and trading
goods from, Europe. From 1714
to the mid-18 th century, York
Factory emerged as a leading
centre of the fur trade for the
western interior. The Hayes
River, a Canadian Heritage River,
provided access for First Nations
from as far as the western
prairies to trade at the “bayside”.
After 1774, when the HBC began
to build a network of trading
posts
York Factory NHSC Management Plan Page 3