Nitchequon (pronounced NITCH-e-kun) is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

that was an inland

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 ...

of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

in the remote geographic centre of Quebec, Canada. It is believed to have operated during 1816–22, 1825 and 1834–1943.

History

Historically, there was a community of

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

inhabiting Nitchequon as well as some

Naskapi The Naskapi (Nascapi, Naskapee, Nascapee) are an Indigenous people of the Subarctic native to the historical country St'aschinuw (ᒋᑦ ᐊᔅᒋᓄᐤ, meaning 'our nclusiveland'), which is located in northern Quebec and Labrador, neighb ...

residents. The Hudson Bay Company used Nitchequon as a stop or

along the fur-trader routes. French-Canadian canoe voyageurs (brigades) would stop at Nitchequon to exchange furs for supplies. However, due to its remote location and the fact it was the Hudson's Bay Company's farthest trading post, it was not cost-effective for the Hudson's Bay Company to continue running it. As a result, it closed in 1943. The Hudson's Bay Company re-opened the Nitchequon trade post around 1950, using air transport instead of canoe brigades. However, it was closed again around the 1960s it is believed, and most Cree residents moved to

Mistissini Mistissini ( cr, ᒥᔅᑎᓯᓃ/Mistisinî meaning Big Rock) is a Cree town located in the south-east corner of the largest natural lake in Quebec, Lake Mistassini. The town is inside the boundaries of the Baie-James Municipality and is the ...

Geography

Nitchequon is located on Lac Nichicun in a remote area of Quebec. The elevation is . Historically, this area was part of Labrador.

Climate

As is typical for its region, Nitchequon has a harsh

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfc''), with mild, wet summers strongly cooled by the frigid, low-salinity

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

and the

Labrador Current The Labrador Current is a cold current in the North Atlantic Ocean which flows from the Arctic Ocean south along the coast of Labrador and passes around Newfoundland, continuing south along the east coast of Canada near Nova Scotia. Near Nova Sco ...

to the east, and severe, extremely snowy winters chilled by the freezing of the shallow Hudson Bay and prevailing winds from the Arctic and the

Greenland Ice Sheet The Greenland ice sheet ( da, Grønlands indlandsis, kl, Sermersuaq) is a vast body of ice covering , roughly near 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is sometimes referred to as an ice cap, or under the term ''inland ice'', or its Danish equiva ...

. The influence of the

Icelandic Low The Icelandic Low is a semi-permanent centre of low atmospheric pressure found between Iceland and southern Greenland and extending in the Northern Hemisphere winter into the Barents Sea. In the summer, it weakens and splits into two centres, one ...

makes precipitation very high for a subarctic climate, especially in the summer.

Current Status

In 1986, the Canadian government closed the weather station. Today Nitchequon is a ghost town.

References

External links

Ottertooth - Nitchequon
Ghost towns in Quebec {{Canada-ghost-town-stub