The Warroad–Sprague Border Crossing connects the city of

Warroad, Minnesota Warroad is a city in Roseau County, Minnesota, Roseau County, Minnesota, United States, at the southwest corner of Lake of the Woods, south of Canada–United States border, Canada. The population was 1,781 at the 2010 United States Census, 20 ...

and community of

Sprague, Manitoba Sprague is a community within the Rural Municipality of Piney in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is named after D.E. Sprague, a prominent Winnipeg lumber merchant. The community is located in the extreme southeast corner of the province nea ...

on the

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

Minnesota State Highway 313 Minnesota State Highway 313 (MN 313) is a highway in northwest Minnesota, which runs from its Intersection (road), intersection with Minnesota State Highway 11, State Highway 11 in Warroad, Minnesota, Warroad and continues north to its norther ...

on the American side joins

Manitoba Highway 12 Provincial Trunk Highway 12 (PTH 12) is a provincial primary highway located in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It runs from the U.S. border (where it meets with Minnesota State Highway 313) to a dead end in Grand Beach. PTH 12 forms the Man ...

on the Canadian side. The crossing is: *on ''

MOM's Way MOM's Way is the name for a series of highways in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, and the U.S. state of Minnesota. The name "MOM" is an acronym for Manitoba, Ontario, and Minnesota, the two provinces and one state traversed by thi ...

'' between

Thunder Bay, Ontario Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

and Ste. Anne, Manitoba. *the easternmost along the part of the international border that follows the

49th parallel north The 49th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 49 ° north of Earth's equator. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. The city of Paris is about south of the 49th parallel and is the large ...

between the

Salish Sea , image = PNW-straits.jpg , alt = , caption = The Salish Sea, showing the open Pacific Ocean at lower left, and from there, heading inland: the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the narrow Puget Sound at lower ri ...

on the

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

and the

Lake of the Woods Lake of the Woods (french: Lac des Bois, oj, Pikwedina Sagainan) is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Lake of the Woods is over long and wide, containing more than 14,55 ...

. *used for travel between

Northwest Angle The Northwest Angle, known simply as the Angle by locals, and coextensive with Angle Township, is a pene-exclave of northern Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota. Except for surveying errors, it is the only place in the contiguous United State ...

and Minnesota proper. A school bus makes this journey twice daily. The adjacent

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

track across the border, which links eastward to

Rainy River, Ontario Rainy River is a town in north-western Ontario, Canada, southeast of Lake of the Woods. Rainy River is situated on the eponymous Rainy River (Minnesota–Ontario), Rainy River, which forms part of the Ontario-Minnesota segment of the Canada–Uni ...

, is isolated from other US trackage.

Canadian side

In 1901, the customs office opened under the administrative oversight of the Port of Winnipeg. In 1925, a new building was erected at Sprague. The customs building was replaced in 1973.

US side

The Border Patrol Station was established around 1924, closed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and reopened in 1955. While on patrol near

Roseau Roseau (Dominican Creole: ''Wozo'') is the capital and largest city of Dominica, with a population of 14,725 as of 2011. It is a small and compact urban settlement, in the Saint George parish and surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, the Roseau Ri ...

in 1928, Robert H. Lobdell, a Warroad officer, was fatally shot by an individual who had illegally entered the US. The Warroad border station, which was built in 1962, was replaced by a new facility in 2010. About south of the previous station, the new complex employs advanced technologies and includes two high low booths, two commercial truck docks and two enclosed passenger vehicle bays for detailed inspections. During the 2020/21 and 2021/22 winters, an ice road was built over the frozen lake to connect Northwest Angle with the rest of Minnesota. In 2022, the highway south to Roseau was designated the Richard K. Magnuson Deputy Memorial Highway in memory of the deputy sheriff who intercepted boarder runner Gregory McMaster in 1978. McMaster fatally shot Magnuson, the final victim of the serial killer.

Traffic volumes

During earlier decades, passenger trains created much of the customs work. To expedite inspections, Canadian and US customs officers processed passengers while the trains were en route. In 1930, US officers Laurence E. Doten and Lawrence C. Jones were fatally shot in the line of the duty on a westbound passenger train. The significant rail freight includes seasonal grain harvests. In later decades, highway traffic became the primary customs activity. This crossing is the only 24-hour one on the

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

–

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

border.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warroad-Sprague Border Crossing Canada–United States border crossings 1901 establishments in Manitoba 1924 establishments in Minnesota Buildings and structures in Roseau County, Minnesota Transportation in Roseau County, Minnesota

Canadian side

US side

Traffic volumes

See also

References