York Factory 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 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 seagoing ships anchored at Five Fathom Hole 7 miles from the fort and goods were transferred by smaller boats . History . 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 other business dealings with the First Nations throughout Rupert ' s Land , the vast territory comprising the entire watershed of Hudson Bay , and which now forms much of Canada . The first three HBC posts were established on James Bay about 1670 . In 1684 , Fort Nelson was established at the mouth of the nearby Nelson River . The company built a second fort on the Hayes river , naming it after the Duke of York . The establishment of these forts provoked a response from New France . In the Hudson Bay expedition ( 1686 ) , the French marched overland from Quebec and captured all the posts on James Bay . During King William ' s War , France several times sent a naval force to Hudson Bay to capture or destroy the fort . In 1690 , Pierre Le Moyne d ' Iberville tried but was driven away by a larger English ship . In 1694 , d ' Iberville returned and captured the factory with a show of force ; he renamed it Fort Bourbon . English forces returned the next year and retook the fort from its small French garrison . In 1697 , d ' Iberville won the Battle of Hudson ' s Bay , the largest Arctic naval battle in North American history . The French force won in the naval battle with three English warship s and again captured the fort . D ' Iberville laid siege to the fort in a way that gave the appearance of being a much stronger force . Fort Nelson was held by the French until 1713 , when it was returned to the British in the Treaty of Utrecht . After 1713 , the headquarters was relocated to the current site on the mouth of the Hayes River . Between 1788 and 1795 , the company constructed an octagon al star fort of stone and brick on the site . The choice of material was poor , however , as the stone and brick could not stand up to heaving permafrost , and in 1831 , the stone fort was razed . The three - story center section of the current compound was completed that same year , with the two - story wings finished within the two years that followed . During its first century , the depot operated by drawing First Nations traders to the post , rather than sending its own traders out into the field . Its position at the mouth of the Nelson allowed access by canoe from the watersheds of the Saskatchewan and Red rivers . In the late 18th century , the centralized nature of the Hudson ' s Bay Company ' s operation from the depot began to become a disadvantage against the more nimble " voyageurs " of the North West Company . They operated by traveling among the First Nations on the vast water network of lakes and rivers . In response the company began sending out its own traders from the depot and eventually established inland posts , first along the Saskatchewan River , and then stretching as far as the Oregon Country . Twice annually from 1821 to 1846 brigades known as the York Factory Express traveled overland to Fort Vancouver , headquarters for the HBC ' s Columbia Department . They brought supplies and trade goods and returned with furs destined for London . The depot remained in company hands after the acquisition of Rupert ' s Land by the Dominion of Canada in 1870 . The historic site is currently staffed by Parks Canada from June 1 to mid - September . Archaeological excavations of the 18th century " octagon " have been conducted since 1991 . In 1957 , Hudson ' s Bay closed its York Factory store . The residents were relocated to York Landing Cree Nation , about 116 km ENE of Thompson , Manitoba .