Noyes ( ) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in St. Vincent Township,

Kittson County, Minnesota Kittson County is a county in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Minnesota along the Canada–US border, south of the Canadian province of Manitoba. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,207. Its county seat is Hallock. Hist ...

, United States. Located in the extreme northwestern corner of the state on the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

, Noyes is the northern terminus of U.S. Highway 75 and site of a former road border crossing.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilita ...

operates a customs inspection station for the

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

and

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

lines that enter from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

at Noyes. The community of Emerson, Manitoba, lies adjacent to Noyes on the Canadian side of the border.

History

A post office called Noyes was established in 1927, and remained in operation until 1990. The community was named for J. A. Noyes, a customs agent. Today, Noyes is essentially a quiet community. Because of its proximity to the flood-prone Red River, it is protected by a

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

which extends south from Emerson. The levee was built in 1989 as part of the International Levee agreement between both countries. When flooding cuts off Noyes from the rest of the United States, a local

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

is declared, allowing residents and emergency personnel to move freely across the border within the levee.

Customs and Immigration Station

Noyes was an important border-crossing location going back to the days of ox roads and later was one of the busiest ports of entry west of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

for rail and road traffic. Since the construction of

Interstate 29 Interstate 29 (I-29) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with I-35 and I-70, to the Canada–US border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba ...

on the

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

side of the nearby Red River, U.S. Highway 75 has declined in importance. The Canadian government closed Emerson port of entry opposite Noyes in 2003, while the Port of Noyes closed in 2006, leaving the U.S. 75 from the south the only access to Noyes. Travelers must now use the

border crossing Border control comprises measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it als ...

located less than to the west, but a trek from Noyes, through

Pembina, North Dakota Pembina () is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 512 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Pembina is located south of the Canada–United States border, Canada–US border. Interstate 29 in North ...

, to Interstate 29. The rail border crossing remains open, but is now managed by the Port of Pembina. The 1931

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

Noyes Customs and Immigration Station is listed on the

NRHP The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of sites, buildings, structures, districts, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

as a well-preserved example of the nation's first purpose-built

border checkpoint A border checkpoint is a location on an international border where travelers or goods are inspected and allowed (or denied) passage through. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders of ...

s at land crossings.

References

External links

Minnesota Place Names – Noyes, MN
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Minnesota Unincorporated communities in Kittson County, Minnesota

History

Customs and Immigration Station

See also

References

External links