Cumberland House Provincial Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cumberland House Provincial Park |
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IUCN Category III (Natural Monument)
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| Location | Saskatchewan |
| Nearest city | Moosomin Whitewood Moose Mountain Provincial Park |
| Established | 1986 (park) |
| Governing body | Saskatchewan Provincial Parks Provincial Historic Site |
| Official name: Cumberland House National Historic Site of Canada | |
| Designated: | 1924 |
Cumberland House Provincial Park is a located in Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, Canada, on the site of the first inland Hudson's Bay Company post in Saskatchewan and the oldest village in the province. A powder magazine shed (used to store explosives) built in 1886 and artifacts from the HBC Northcote steamship are the remaining historic elements on the site.
The site was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1924, and was protected as a historic park by the provincial government in 1986.
History
Cumberland House was established in 1774, and was an important stop for the transport of good and passengers by steamship along the Saskatchewan River on routes between Grand Rapids, Manitoba on Lake Winnipeg and Edmonton and Medicine Hat to the west. It also served as a stop for smaller steamships that operated between The Pas and Prince Albert. Due to the arrival of the railway, steamship travel came to an end and the Northcote was beached at Cumberland House in 1886. It also served as an important transit point for copper ore from Flin Flon until the railway arrived in Flin Flon in 1925. Cumberland House was also an important administration and distribution centre as the Hudson's Bay Company until 1821 when the Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company merged and Norway House became the new inland headquarters.
