Estcourt Station, Maine

Estcourt Station is located on the Canada–United States border between Maine and Quebec, at the southern end of Lake Pohenegamook in the North Maine Woods region. It derives its name from the adjacent village of Estcourt, Quebec, which is part of the larger municipality of Pohénégamook. The Estcourt Station - Pohénégamook Border Crossing is staffed for only several hours daily, usually for processing logging trucks that access Maine's North Woods to haul timber to Quebec saw mills.

The populated part of Estcourt Station is essentially a sliver of the village of Estcourt that was cut off when the international boundary was properly surveyed through the area (see Webster–Ashburton Treaty). It consists of a row of several houses along Rue Frontière, a street on the Quebec side of the border, some of which were built before the survey and which the border now passes through. There is also a general store and a small gas station.

Although the border crossing was constructed for Canadians to enter the North Maine Woods, it is very busy with Canadians who check in at the US border station via Rue de la Frontiere/Estcourt Road (a Canadian road), take the road back to the gas station which is again in US territory, and buy cheaper gasoline there. The station is probably the only one in the eastern United States that displays its prices in Canadian dollars per liter. After the purchase they return on Rue de la Frontiere, check in at the Canadian border station, and officially reenter Canada.[1]

Although the US census reports that four people live in the village, according to a Canada Border Services Agency agent no one lives in Estcourt Station full-time as of 2016. A few US residents live in the village during the summer. They must follow the hours of the border control stations; thus, after 5 pm on Friday, they cannot leave until 9 am Monday. Anyone attempting to enter the US through Estcourt Station illegally would have to travel on hundreds of miles of private logging roads through the North Maine Woods that are difficult to navigate during spring and summer rains, and almost inaccessible because of snow during the winter;[2] there are no towns or paved roads in the North Maine Woods.[1] Likewise, Estcourt Station is connected to Hydro-Québec for electricity. The community receives drinking water and other municipal services from Pohénégamook.

Canadian National Railway's transcontinental main line between Halifax and Montreal passes immediately north of Rue Frontière.

Estcourt Station uses Quebec's area code 418 for telephone service.

Gas station in Estcourt Station

In October 2002, there was a border incident, described by Secretary of State Colin Powell as "unfortunate",[3][4] that saw a Pohénégamook resident, Michel Jalbert, imprisoned for 35 days in the U.S. after purchasing gas in Estcourt Station outside of the U.S. Customs Service's normal operating hours. U.S. Border Patrol agents said that Jalbert was a convicted felon (convicted in Canada for breaking and entering in 1990 when he was 19 years old) and was in illegal possession of a firearm; he reportedly had a shotgun in the back of his truck – a common occurrence in the area during the partridge hunting season.[5]

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Estcourt Station has a Warm-summer, Humid continental climate (Dfb). Dfb climates are characterized by a least one month having an average mean temperature ≤ 32.0 °F (0.0 °C), at least four months with an average mean temperature ≥ 50.0 °F (10.0 °C), all months with an average mean temperature < 71.6 °F (22.0 °C) and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. Although most summer days are comfortably humid in Estcourt Station, episodes of warmth and high humidity can occur with heat index values > 87 °F (31 °C). Since 1981, the highest air temperature was 92.2 °F (33.4 °C) on July 5, 2008, and the highest daily average mean dew point was 70.1 °F (21.2 °C) on July 2, 2002. The average wettest month is July which corresponds with the annual peak in thunderstorm activity. Since 1981, the wettest calendar day was 2.96 inches (75 mm) on October 15, 2005. During the winter months, the average annual extreme minimum air temperature is −32.2 °F (−35.7 °C).[6] Since 1981, the coldest air temperature was −39.2 °F (−39.6 °C) on January 16, 2009. Episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur with wind chill values < −48 °F (−44 °C). The average annual snowfall (Sep-May) is > 100 inches (254 cm).

According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Estcourt Station would have a dominant vegetation type of Northern Hardwoods/Spruce (108) with a dominant vegetation form of Northern Hardwoods (23).[8] The plant hardiness zone is 3b with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of −32.2 °F (−35.7 °C).[6] The spring bloom typically peaks around May 17 and fall color usually peaks around September 25.

• Hyder, Alaska and Stewart, British Columbia
• Beebe Plain, Vermont and Beebe Plain, Stanstead, Quebec

• The Immigration Case of Michel Jalbert Teaches Larger Lessons
• David Rennie, "Village Customs border on the ridiculous"