Operational Historic Border Inspection Stations Around the Country
The Limestone, Maine, border inspection station, at the time of it's construction. Residential structures housed immigration and customs officer and their families. Photo: National Archives.
While a number of historic border stations have been retired, due to transportation, shipping, and population changes, others remain in operation.
This border station at Limestone, Maine, built in 1933, included residential structures for the immigration and customs officers and their families, typical of stations with a high volume of traffic. The Limestone station, now known as a Land Port of Entry (LPOE) is open and available to travelers 24 hours a day, but no longer includes residential structures, which can be seen in the photo above.
The border station was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. It retains many of its original structural characteristics. It is one of the few border stations that maintain its original porte-cochere height of 9.25 feet; most were increased from 12 feet to 14.5 feet to accommodate taller vehicles after the construction of the Interstate Highway System began in 1956. It retains important original program elements, and despite numerous alterations, continues to demonstrate the historic characteristics of Border Station Property Type Number 1: 3-bay Inspection Station.
The Laurier, Washington, border inspection station, on the U.S./Canadian Border.
This station in Laurier, Washington sits just south of the Canadian border. The town of Laurier (currently with a population of 1), was actually named for the Canadian Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, that country's first French-speaking prime minister, and who appears on the Canadian five dollar bill.
The Laurier-Cascade Border Crossing connects the town of Kettle Falls, Washington with Christina Lake, British Columbia. This crossing is the point at which US Route 395, the Kettle River, the Canadian Pacific Railway and the runway of the Avey Field State Airport all traverse the US-Canada border.