April 5, 2021

Canusa Street (French: rue Canusa) is the only part of the Canada–United States border that runs down the middle of a street. The street separates Beebe Plain, Vermont, from the Beebe Plain area of Stanstead, Quebec, and is a part of Quebec Route 247.

Local legend claims that a group of rather drunken surveyors, when given the task of determining the United States–Canada border line in the region (nominally at 45.00°N), decided to place the border right through the center of the village along what is now Canusa Street. On the current cadastral graphic matrix however, the border line is drawn along the southern border to the street, suggesting that it is entirely located within Canada.

At the west end of Canusa is the Beebe Plain–Beebe Border Crossing.[1] Immediately facing them is a solid granite line house. This building (built as a store in the 1820s) was for a time the world’s only international post office. It had one postmaster, but two doors and two postal counters, each serving customers from a different country.

The Beebe Plain library is partly in the US and partly in Canada as well.

An outcome of this unique geographical situation is that the drivers to the south are in the United States, while drivers to the north are in Canada. The American and Canadian Families living on the street sometimes maintain friendships or relations. Before the September 11 attacks crossing between sides of the road on foot was simple. But now, it’s necessary to report to the border crossing office and ones who don’t risk a fine. This complicates the lives of the residents.