It was the first English-speaking settlement in lands now making up Ontario[3] and the second Hudson's Bay Company post to be set up in North America after Fort Rupert.

On the mainland, across the Moose River, is the nearby community of Moosonee, which is accessible by water taxi in the summer, ice road in the winter, and chartered helicopter in the off-season (break-up or freeze-up).

The term "Factory" refers to the jurisdiction of a factor (a business agent or merchant in charge of buying or selling) of the Hudson's Bay Company.

In 1673, Charles Bayly of the Hudson's Bay Company, Governor of the HBC, established a fur-trading post originally called Moose Fort.

So in 1686, Chevalier de Troyes led a small contingent of French soldiers north on an expedition to raid HBC forts.

[2] Around the same time, the Parisian furrier company Revillon Frères set up a trading post on the west bank of the Moose River.

[12] Isolated until 1931, the community was finally connected by the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway to Moosonee and it became a service type economy.

[8] Supplies could be delivered from the south by train, thereby making redundant the once-yearly sea voyages on which the settlement had previously relied.

The HBC staff house and other historic properties were converted into the open-air museum of Centennial Park that opened in 1967.

Other crafts practised in Moose Factory include the production of tamarack geese, snowshoes, and soapstone carvings which are sold locally.

[10] Outdoor tourism in summer and winter, such as trap-line tours, canoe expeditions, and snowmobile trips, are locally provided.

Visitors also take freight canoe tours that leave from Moose Factory or Moosonee downstream to James Bay at the mouth of the river, or upstream to Fossil Island.

[citation needed] Tourism agencies recommend the Polar Bear Express as a "great rail excursion", between Cochrane, Ontario and Moosonee, to view the "hydroelectric dams, isolated homes and perhaps even some wildlife.

"[23] The train, operated by Ontario Northland, offers passenger and freight service; tickets are sold by phone or at the offices Cochrane, Moosonee, Moose Factory and Timmins.

Built in 1847-50, it is the last surviving fur trade officer’s dwelling in Canada and the oldest building in the James Bay area.

"[30] The 19th-century buildings associated with the Hudson's Bay Company post were designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1957.

The staff house was built between 1847 and 1850, making it the oldest building in the James Bay area and the last surviving HBC officers' dwelling.

[33] In the Hudson's Bay Company cemetery the oldest tombstone is dated 1802 and marks the grave of the Cree wife and children of John Thomas who was the post's factor at that time.

The medical staff (consisting of 12 family physicians, 1 anesthetist and 1 surgeon) work with their tertiary care facilities in Kingston, Toronto, Sudbury, and Timmins.

James Bay Education Centre Northern College-Education Complex is a liaison base for the community college.