In the remote north of the Hudson Bay wilderness is a remnant of Manitoba’s fur trading past. York Factory opened in 1684, as a fur trading depot 200 kilometres south of Churchill, and for the next 273 years was the primary depot of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC).

Little remains of the once bustling depot, which once included hundreds of residents, a doctor, cooperage, and a nearby Cree community. Today all that is left is the cemetery and two buildings, including the large white Depot. It is a large wooden structure, typical of other HBC buildings at the time. The structure is Georgian in style, with a centralized entrance and a symmetrical façade. A watchtower sits in the center of the structure, jutting out from the roof and looking out over the Hayes and Nelson Rivers.

Though access to York Factory is difficult (your options are a private charter flight or by boat), visitors can see scores of artefacts from the Fort’s history. Cannons, a church pulpit, and ornate iron stoves are kept with the York Factory Depot.

It was only in 1957 that York Factory closed. A decade later, in 1968, the HBC transferred what remained of the factory to the Government of Canada – who currently maintain the structure as a National Historic Site.