image via Flickr
Estcourt Station is like any other town in Canada. It drinks water provided by Canada, is hooked into the Quebec electric grid, watches televeision in French, and spends Canadian currency. Even its area code is Canadian.
The only problem is that due to some quirky international borderlines, Estcourt Station is actually a town in Maine, USA. Which has of course, led to some issues.
image via Google Earth
The actual border, running rampant through houses.
The town itself officially consists of several houses, one general store, and a single gas station. All of the residents consider themselves to be French-Canadians just like any other, and for a while nobody in the US really cared. It just served as a quirky spot in the world where things like kitchen tables and refrigerators were in two different countries at once.
Then 9/11 happened. And the US all of a sudden wasn't so cool with the idea of people crossing into the United States all willy-nilly. Despite the fact that Estcourt Station has no road connections with the rest of the United States.
image via Yankee Magazine
"Terrorists please make a legal u-turn."
But as if that whole "no-roads" handicap was going to stop the US Customs and Border protection from trying to defend precious US soil from foreigners.
What used to be a simple gas stop turned into a tedious process of driving 3/4 of a mile down the road in the United States to report to the US authorities that you planned to fill up with gas. Then you exited the United States back into Canada to drive the 3/4 of a mile back to the gas station whereupon you would be re-entering the United States. Once you were filled up, you have to drive back into Canada and report to the Canadian border post that you were re-entering Canada.
image via CyberGeo
But hey, it's all worth it for gas that's about 30 cents cheaper than Canadian gas.
Obviously this ridiculous procedure was largely ignored by residents, partially because the US office would close at 2 pm, closing off Estcourt Station for the day, and partially because "fuck that."
It didn't take long before trouble when in 2002 Canadian citizen Michel Jalbert went to fill up for gas. Like most everyone, he ignored the procedures because it was past 2 pm. Little did he know that a border patrol agent was watching the station and arrested him for "possession of a firearm by an illegal alien" (he had a gun in his truck for hunting pheasant).
He found himself incarcerated for thirty-five days before pleading guilty to the charges.
image via Wikipedia
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to save money on gas."
Sales at the gas station dropped 50% after the incident as people didn't want to risk arrest for filling up with gas.
To this day, the situation remains unresolved.
To this day, the situation remains unresolved.
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