History of Northwest Territories capital cities that have served as home for the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories, the legislative branch of Northwest Territories government. In Canada, it is customary for provincial and territorial level government to have the administrative centre of the civil service in the same city as the legislative branch. The Northwest Territories, however, had separate administrative and legislative capitals officially exist between 1911 and 1967. This is the only province or territory in Canadian history to have had such an arrangement. The Government of Canada purchased the North-Western Territory and Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1868, under the terms
Yellowknife also resulted in new discoveries at the Con Mine, greatly extending the life of the mine. The Yellowknife townsite expanded from the Old Town waterfront, and the new townsite was established during 1945–1946. The Discovery Mine, with its own townsite, operated to the north-northeast of Yellowknife from 1950 to 1969. Between 1939 and 1953, Yellowknife was controlled by the Northern Affairs department (now Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada) of the Government of Canada. A small council, partially elected and partially appointed, made decisions. By 1953, Yellowknife had grown so much that it was made a municipality, with its own council