Magasin royal () was the generic name given to a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

under the purview of the

King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...

. The name also applied specifically to two trading posts that were built during the 18th century for French

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most ...

near the Humber River in the ''

Pays d'en Haut The ''Pays d'en Haut'' (; ''Upper Country'') was a territory of New France covering the regions of North America located west of Montreal. The vast territory included most of the Great Lakes region, expanding west and south over time into the ...

'' region of

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

, in present-day

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. According to Ron Brown, author of ''From Queenston to Kingston: The Hidden Heritage of Lake Ontario's Shoreline'', the fort was ''"little more than a log cabin"'', and archeologists considered it ''"the first non-aboriginal building in the Toronto area"''.

Fort Douville

The first trading post was built in 1720 near present-day

Baby Point Baby Point is a residential neighbourhood in the York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded on the west by the Humber River from south of Baby Point Crescent to St. Marks Road, east to Jane Street and Jane Street south to Raymond Av ...

along the Humber River at Old Mill.Urban Change in Toronto: A Timeline
/ref> It was built by Philippe Dagneau dit Douville, sieur de la Saussaye, and it is commonly known as Fort Douville. The wooden magazine was similar to the one built in

Lewiston, New York Lewiston is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 15,944 at the 2020 census. The town and its contained village are named after Morgan Lewis, a governor of New York. The Town of Lewiston is on the western bord ...

(likely the French forts or trading post located now in

Fort Niagara Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built by New France to protect its interests in North America, specifically control of access between the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great Lakes. The fort is on the river's e ...

). The trading post was abandoned sometime after the British

Fort Oswego Fort Oswego was an 18th-century trading post in the Great Lakes region in North America, which became the site of a battle between French and British forces in 1756 during the French and Indian War. The fort was established in 1727 on the orders o ...

was completed in 1727. The lack of other records suggests that there was no permanent settlement in the Toronto area between 1730 and 1750.

Fort Toronto

In April 1750,

Antoine Louis Rouillé Antoine-Louis Rouillé, comte de Jouy (, 7 June 1689 – 20 September 1761) was a French statesman and comte of Jouy-en-Josas. Born in Paris, the son of Marie-Louis-Paulin Rouillé and Marie-Angélique d'Aquin, he was in succession conseiller to ...

gave permission to build a small, fortified, trading post on the east bank of the ''Rivière Toronto'' (now the Humber River), near its mouth on

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

. This post was meant to divert trade from the British Fort Oswego. It is commonly referred to as Fort Portneuf after the French military officer who had been instructed to build it,

Pierre Robineau de Portneuf Pierre Robineau de Portneuf, was an officer in the colonial regular troops. He was born on August 9, 1708 in Montreal, Quebec, second son of René Robineau de Portneuf and Marguerite Daneau de Muy, He married Marie-Louise Dandonneau Du Sablé on ...

(1708–1761). This post is also known as

Fort Toronto Fort Toronto, also known as Fort Portneuf, was a French trading post that was located near the mouth of the Humber River in what is now Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was constructed in 1750 by French military officer Pierre Robineau de Portneuf, wh ...

, and it was immediately successful in trading with the

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

. Given the success of Fort Toronto, plans were made in August 1750 to build a larger trading post nearby. From the autumn of 1750 to April 1751, the larger trading post was built to the east of the Humber River. The new post was named

Fort Rouillé Fort Rouillé was a French trading post located in what is now Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Fort Rouillé was constructed by the French in 1751, building upon the success of a trading post they established in the area a year earlier, known as Fort T ...

and was in operation until 1759; Portneuf was the first commandant of Fort Rouillé. The subsequent two trading forts were later destroyed by the French forces withdrawing from the area, during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

. For a time after the defeat of the French, Canadian-born French Canadian fur trader

Jean-Baptiste Rousseau Jean-Baptiste Rousseau (6 April 1671 – 17 March 1741) was a French playwright and poet, particularly noted for his cynical epigrams. Biography Rousseau was born in Paris, the son of a shoemaker, and was well educated. As a young man, he gai ...

(1758–1812) lived in a house near Fort Portneuf from 1792. After the establishment of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

in 1793, the land along the east bank of the Humber River was reserved for timber for a saw mill. Rousseau accepted a land grant at Head of the Lake near Ancaster in 1795, and he moved his family there to continue his trading with the First Nations peoples.

References

French forts in Canada History of Toronto {{KingdomofFrance-stub

Fort Douville

Fort Toronto

See also

References