Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site of Canada

Located west of the island of Montreal, in an enchanting natural setting on the shores of Lake Saint-Louis, this National Historic Site of Canada will introduce you to one of the most important stages in Canada’s economic history: the fur trade in the early 19th century.

Trace the lives of trappers, French-Canadian voyageurs, coureurs des bois, traders and Amerindians, and relive the epic of the shovel industry.

In the old “stone shed”, built in 1803, you’ll take a memorable leap back in time as you move among the bales of furs, crates of merchandise and barrels of foodstuffs, sniffing the scent of furs as you go.

At the Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site, friendly guides offer a program of interactive activities on self-guided or guided tours, not to mention dynamic exhibits with audiovisual presentations and interactive games.

Saturday and Sunday afternoons in summer: historical animation on beaver down hat making, birch bark canoe maneuvering and voyageurs’ clothing.

1803. Le commerce des fourrures est à son zénith. La tension est vive entre la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest et la Compagnie de la Baie d’Hudson. Lorsqu’Alexander Gordon, un actionnaire de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest, fait construire un entrepôt de fourrures à Lachine, il se doute bien que sa localisation stratégique sur la route du commerce sera avantageuse.

In 1833, the shed became the property of the Hudson’s Bay Company after the two companies merged.