The North West Company Post
Text from the plaque
Travellers on the canoe route to the West had to make a portage around the St. Mary's rapids. The North West Company established a fur-trading post south of the river by 1791. After the British abandoned their occupation of the American midwest, the company moved its post here in 1797. The depot eventually included storehouses, a canal and lock, a sawmill, and a portage road. Wharves were built at either end of the rapids for boats to unload supplies. An American invasion fleet razed the site in 1814, but the Nor'Westers rebuilt it almost immediately. It became a Hudson's Bay Company post following the union of the two rival fur trading companies in 1821.
Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.
Find the place
The District of Algoma
The City of Sault Ste. Marie
At the eastern end of the Canadian locks
on a pathway, off Canal Drive
N 46 30.904 W 84 20.732
Recorded August 2006. Check current access before visiting.
More information
Visitors' notes
April 22, 2011
Coordinates are: N46 30.904 W084 20.732 [Editor's Response: Thanks.]