Although nothing remained of Thunder Bay's legendary fur trade era after the last structure of the old Fort William post was torn down in 1902, local citizens sought to keep its memory alive. In 1914, the Thunder Bay Historical Society erected a fine monument at the original site "to commemorate the locality made famous by the pioneer fur traders of the great northwest". In the 1960s, as Canadians of diverse social and ethnic origins began searching for a common heritage as an antidote to the rootlessness of the twentieth century, citizens of the Lakehead rediscovered the part Nor'Westers played in the origins of their community. In response to local interest and the need to stimulate the tourist industry of northwestern Ontario, the government of Ontario reconstructed the inland headquarters of the North West Company nine miles up the Kaministikwia from the original site which is now covered with sixteen lines of railway track. One of the most imaginative recreations in North America, Old Fort William has become a major educational and cultural centre, portraying through living history not only the life-style and technology of fur trade society and its heritage of native, French-Canadian and British peoples, but also the role played by the North West Company in shaping the dimensions of the future Dominion of Canada.
Courtesy: Old Fort William, Ontario Ministry of Industry and Tourism
