Derby Line/Stanstead Border Crossing, Vermont

The Derby Line/Stanstead road crossing, on the east side of town, is the second most heavily used of the 15 border crossings in Vermont.  It is the crossing for Interstate 91, connecting the Eastern Townships of Quebec with the interstate artery that follows the Connecticut River to Massachusetts, and beyond. The highway crosses the 45^th Parallel here, which is designated as the border line between the two countries for 155 miles (though its not completely straight, due to old surveying errors). The line cuts through a rural, agricultural landscape of New England, New York, and Lower Canada that was already partially settled by the time the surveyors showed up in the early 19th century to find the 45th Parallel on the ground, and officially divide the territory. As a result, this is where most of the houses bisected by the line can be found. West of the Interstate crossing, the community of Derby Line, Vermont/Stanstead, Quebec has the densest cluster of line buildings on the entire US/Canada boundary.