Cumberland House

▪ historical site, Canada

      unincorporated settlement and historic site on the south shore of Cumberland Lake (formerly Pine Island Lake, part of the Saskatchewan River system), eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It lies near the Manitoba boundary, 85 miles (137 km) northeast of Nipawin. The house, built in 1774 by Samuel Hearne of the Hudson's Bay Company, was the company's first major inland trading post and the focus of the first permanent white settlement in what is now Saskatchewan. Probably named for Prince Rupert, Duke of Cumberland (1617–87), who was first governor of the company, it quickly became a key trading centre because of easy water routes to The Pas, Manitoba (38 miles east), and elsewhere. In 1780 another trading post was built nearby by the North West Company. The original house was reconstructed (1789–92) and before 1821 also served as residence of the governor of Rupert's Land (i.e., the Hudson's Bay region). It still operates a fur trade (mainly muskrat) and is preserved within Cumberland House National Historic Park. The house is the focus of a small resort-fishing community. Pop. (2006) 810.

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