YORK FACTORY

historic settlement, northeastern Manitoba, Canada. It lies at the mouth of the Hayes River, on Hudson Bay. It was the site of a Hudson's Bay Company post (Fort Nelson) built in 1682 and destroyed in 1684 by the French; a new fort, named for the Duke of York (later King James II), was quickly erected. The fort changed hands several times until by the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) it became British. As York Factory it was the chief port, supply depot, and headquarters for the fur-trading centres of northern Canada, but its importance declined with the completion in 1885 and 1915 of the transcontinental railroads and in 1931 of the branch line to Churchill on Hudson Bay, 140 miles (225 km) northwest. The trading post closed in 1957, ending 275 years of nearly continuous operation; it has been designated a national historic site and is accessible only by air or canoe.