Morses Line Border Crossing, Vermont

The Morses Line Crossing started in 1871, when the Morse family opened a store directly on the line, a building now long gone. Today the crossing averages around 80 vehicles a day, making it among the least used of the 15 crossings in Vermont. The Canadian Port of Entry is considering installing a remote check-in kiosk that can be used by pre-screened crossers after hours, so they don’t need to run a second shift of officers. The US Port of Entry building is old and worn, constructed in 1935, and all traffic on the road, such as it is, is funneled through its one lane carport. It was among the first to be considered for replacement once $420 million stimulus money was awarded to the Department of Homeland Security to upgrade Ports of Entry along the entire border a few years ago. The Rainville family, whose home is between the Ports of Entry, and whose cornfield surrounds the US Port, refused to sell the government the land they needed, and then protested loudly and effectively when preparations were being made to take five acres of it by eminent domain. So Homeland Security proposed closing the Port here all together, which the local community has been protesting (with the exception, of course, of the Rainvilles).