York Factory was a settlement and Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) 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. York Factory was one of the first fur-trading posts established by the HBC, built in 1684 and used in that business for more than 270 years. The settlement was headquarters of the HBC's Northern Department from 1821 to 1873. The complex was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1936. In 1957, the HBC closed it down. It has been owned by the Canadian government since 1968 and the site is now operated by Parks Canada. No one lives permanently at York Factory; there is a summer residence for Parks Canada staff, and some nearby seasonal hunting camps. The wooden structure at the park site dates from 1831 and is the oldest and largest wooden structure built on permafrost in Canada. Location York Factory is located on the north bank of the Hayes River about inland. The mouth of the Nelson River is to the north, across "Point of Marsh". The Hayes is a more practical canoe route, although the Nelson is much larger (it drains Lake Winnipeg). Seagoing ships anchored at Five Fathom Hole from the fort due to the shallow bottom, and goods were transferred by smaller boats. The Shamattawa Airport and Gillam Airport are nearby today. History From the 17th through late 19th century, the depot at York Factory and its predecessors were the central base of operations for the Hudson's Bay Company's (HBC) 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, a fur trading post at the mouth of the Nelson River and the first headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company, was established at the mouth of the nearby Nelson River. The company built a second fort, York Factory, 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