The Walhalla–Winkler Border Crossing connects the town of

Walhalla, North Dakota Walhalla is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota, United States. It sits on the banks of the Pembina River, five miles (8 km) from the border with Manitoba (Canada) and approximately from the border with Minnesota. The population was 893 at ...

and the city of

Winkler, Manitoba Winkler is a city in Manitoba, Canada with a population of 13,745 ( census agglomeration 32,655), making it the 4th largest city in Manitoba, as of the 2021 Canadian census. It is located in southern Manitoba, surrounded by the Rural Municipality ...

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' ...

North Dakota Highway 32 North Dakota Highway 32 (ND 32) is a north–south highway located that traverses portions of nine counties in eastern North Dakota. The highway is one of several north–south routes in the state that connects the Canadian border to the state ...

on the American side joins

Manitoba Highway 32 Provincial Trunk Highway 32 (PTH 32) is a provincial primary highway located in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It runs from PTH 14 at Winkler to the U.S. border, where it becomes North Dakota State Highway 32. Between its northern end and ...

on the Canadian side.

Railway and highway

In September 1907, the Great Northern Railway (GN) rail head from Walhalla reached the border. That December, GN began passenger services from

Morden Morden is a district and town in South London, England, now within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton, Londo ...

southward across the border. In 1937, the line was abandoned. The Walhalla–Haskett highway was built in 1945 and paved in 1958.

Canadian side

In terms of the region, the earliest customs service began at Morden in 1885, where the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to ...

(NWMP) collected duties, issued permits, and patrolled the border to deter smuggling. A customs office was established at Morden in 1897. A decade later, an additional customs facility was established farther south, primarily to handle cross-border rail traffic. J.A. Klassen was the inaugural customs officer 1907–1912. The office was initially called Krahn, but was renamed a year later to Haskett, where a room in the train station housed the activities. The Port of Gretna provided administrative oversight. The settlement dated from the 1870s, but grew after an American entrepreneur called Haskett bought the respective land from Bernhard Krahn. The closing of the railway began the demise of the town. In 1945, the customs office relocated to the border, where a new building was erected. In 1967, lobbying by locals changed the customs name to Winkler. In 1969, a new building was officially opened to serve the highway. A rebuild plan issued in 2017 has yet to be finalized. In 2020, the former border hours of 8am–10pm reduced, becoming 8am–6pm.

US side

The early border patrol history is unclear, but assumedly the US mirrored the establishment of a permanent post in the early 1900s. The US border station, which was built in 1962, was replaced by a new facility in 2012.

Footnotes

References

* Canada–United States border crossings 1908 establishments in Manitoba 1908 establishments in North Dakota Buildings and structures in Pembina County, North Dakota Transportation in Pembina County, North Dakota Winkler, Manitoba {{NorthDakota-geo-stub

Railway and highway

Canadian side

US side

See also

Footnotes

References