My New Series... Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site of Canada Beginning in the 1600s, voyageurs would launch their canoes from this location to transport trade goods thousands of miles into First Nations lands. At that time the Lachine Rapids prevented large ships from going any further west along the Saint Lawrence River. A stone warehouse was erected in 1803 to store the furs gathered as a result of fur trade. It is now a museum dedicated to the history of this strategic location as a departure and arrival point for fur trading expeditions. Located to the west of the Island of Montréal along Lake Saint-Louis, The Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site testifies to the apogee of the fur industry in the Montréal region in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The old stone warehouse dates from 1803. Alexander Gordon, ex-clerk and stockholder of the North West Company had it built to store trading goods and furs. In 1833, the warehouse became the property of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Lachine occupied a strategic position on the fur route as a departure and arrival point for trading expeditions. It was also an important centre for storing the Montréal merchants’ furs and for trading goods. Today, this unique warehouse houses an exhibition that enables visitors to relive the Montréal fur epic. Thanks Magik