Moose Factory

unincorporated area, Ontario, Canada

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Moose Factory, unincorporated locality, Cochrane district, northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located on Factory Island, in the estuary of the Moose River, approximately 10 miles (16 km) from the southern end of James Bay (the southernmost limit of Hudson Bay) and about 200 miles (320 km) north-northeast of Timmins.

Moose Factory was originally established as a Hudson’s Bay Company fur-trading post (“factory”) by Charles Bayly in 1673, but it was captured by the French in 1686 and later destroyed. The post has been in continuous operation, however, since the company reestablished it in 1730. Some of the predominantly Cree Indian population of the Moose Cree First Nation band still depend on trapping as a livelihood, but a large hospital constructed in the early 1950s is a major employer. Tourism has increased in importance to the economy. A rail line operated by the provincial government’s Ontario Northland Transportation Commission serves the community from its northern terminus at nearby Moosonee.

Moose Factory was the site of an Anglican mission church (1840) and residential school (c. 1851); the school ceased operation in the mid-1960s. Staff House (c. 1850), one of the structures of the trading post, has been preserved as a museum. Pop. (2011) Factory Island census subdivision, 1,414.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kenneth Pletcher.