Grand Portage–Pigeon River Border Crossing

The Grand Portage–Pigeon River Border Crossing connects the cities of Grand Portage, Minnesota, and Neebing, Ontario. It is the main route between the larger cities of Duluth, Minnesota, and Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Grand Portage–Pigeon River Border Crossing
International Boundary at the Pigeon River Bridge
Location
CountryUnited States; Canada
Location
Coordinates48.001435°N 89.585154°W / 48.001435; -89.585154
Details
Opened1964
US Phone(218) 475-2244
Canadian Phone(807) 964-3000
HoursOpen 24 hours
Website
https://www.cbp.gov/contact/ports/grand-portage

History

The Port of Entry was established in 1964 when the International Bridge spanning the Pigeon River was completed. Prior to 1964, the crossing was located several miles to the west at the Outlaw Bridge via Old Border Road. Ryden's Border Store, which had been located at the old crossing since 1947, moved to Grand Portage when the new bridge was completed.

At the old crossing, small towns grew around the border crossing. The Minnesota town was known as Sextus City, named after Wisconsin assemblyman Sextus Lindahl,[1] and the Ontario town was called Pigeon River. Hotels, gas stations and other businesses developed around the crossing.[2] Today the remnants make up ghost towns on both sides of the border

Plans to move the crossing to a new bridge with a more direct route between Duluth and Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) began as early as 1935, but efforts of the Minnesota government to acquire the necessary land for the roadway from the US government, which held it on behalf of the Chippewa tribe, proved challenging and ended up at the US Supreme Court in 1939. Congress finally approved the condemnation request in 1943, but it was another 20 years before the bridge was prioritized, funded and completed. It would take another four years to complete the roadway leading to it.[3]

Both the US and Canada border stations are open 24 hours per day. The time zone changes at this crossing: the Canadian side of the border is in the Eastern Time Zone and the American side is in the Central Time Zone.

See also

References
  1. Everett, Winter (September 9, 1936). "Around the Statehouse". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 4. Retrieved July 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Sextus Lindahl, who gave the progressives a surprise in the legislature some 12 years ago by presenting a Scandinavian leadership to the conservative members of the assembly, is now the sole owner of a city which he calls 'Sextus City' on the Minnesota border between the United States and Canada. The city consists of a gas station, a resort hotel, cabins, and a United States customs office. It is 200 miles from Duluth right on the Canadian border and on the road to Port Arthur. Mr. Lindahl owns the entire city except the United States customs office.
  2. Larson, Donn (October 1, 2016). "The Outlaw Bridge". Lake Superior Magazine. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  3. Munsch, Andrew. "Old Border Road (Old Hwy 61)". Deadpioneer's Historic Minnesota Highways. DeadPioneer.com. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
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