St. John/Lena Border Crossing, North Dakota

The old brick USA Port of Entry at this remote and lightly used crossing was preserved for historic purposes, while most of the rest of the US Ports of Entry in North Dakota were replaced around 2011. Across the street from the Port of Entry is the Border Lounge. Alcohol, as well as gas, tends to be cheaper in the US, with less taxes attached to it. The bar used to be called the Bucket. Some locals called it the bloody bucket, as there were so many fights there. Here too, as at several other crossings, the road makes a curve or shifts diagonally on one side of the line or the other, since the Canadian Township and Range grid does not always line up with the American one.