Description of Historic Place

Situated on McKenzie Drive on the Fort Simpson waterfront, the Hudson’s Bay Company Shed is a small storage building dating from around 1935. Only the building is designated.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Hudson’s Bay Company Shed resides in the fact that it is the only structure surviving from the original Hudson’s Bay Company compound. Company buildings tended to conform to a uniform colour scheme; white walls with green trim and red roofs, said in the 1930s to be the most attractive colours in the wilderness, giving a bright appearance to HB Co. settlements. The village of Fort Simpson became a permanent settlement in 1822 when the Hudson's Bay Company began construction of a trading post, naming it for George Simpson, then Governor of Rupert's Land. The village remained primarily a "company town" until around 1910. In its traditional Hudson’s Bay Company livery of white walls and red roof, the shed is an icon, linking Fort Simpson to its past as a Hudson’s Bay Company settlement and trading centre.

Source: Village of Fort Simpson Heritage Bylaw.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Hudson’s Bay Company Shed is defined by:
- Its HBC colours—white walls and red roof.
- Its original materials, volume, layout and construction.