Noyes Port-of-Entry Closes

I just learned that the Noyes Port-of-Entry will be closing on July 10th of this year.

For me personally, it will be an end of an era. I can't tell any of you reading this how many times I traveled through the USA-Canadian border at that crossing. I took it to Emerson for shopping with my Mom, for piano lessons, to visit Dr. Goossen the veterinarian, to go to Winnipeg, to visit churches in Altona, to go to the rodeo in Morris, to vacation at Riding Mountain National Park...the list goes on.

My father worked a good share of his adult life for the railroad in Noyes, working closely with many men who worked at the Noyes port. Someday, I can envision some sort of automation of the 'cutting' process (as my father would call it, a term that covered doing inspections and paperwork allowing the train to cross the border) so that the depot will close, too. Noyes will become a ghost town, and it will be as if it never was.

Time marches on.

This website has some fascinating information and commentary on the end of Highway 75, which is in Noyes to this day...


UPDATE April 1 2012:  The border crossing station at Noyes was established in 1905, after having been previously located in the nearby town of St. Vincent.  During the first three decades, most of the customs business at Noyes pertained to railroad rather than highway traffic.  In fact, between 1905 and 1931 the Noyes customs office was located in the Great Northern depot.  The current red brick customs building was built in 1931. - MN/DOT Historic Roadside Development