The U.S.-Canadian border in Pohénégamook, Quebec runs through this nice French Canadian lady's house.
GOP candidate Scott Walker is trying to
out-Trump the Donald by suggesting we build a wall on the U.S.-Canadian border. (
Short answer: the Canadian government is not amused.)
Not only would that be a HUGE wall, but the U.S.-Canadian border has its share of pretty bizarre borders. And it reminds me of my hilarious personal story about one of them.
Fifteen years ago, I graduated from college—and took a 28-state road trip that summer. On the road trip, I set out to drive all of U.S. Route 1 from Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, Florida.
But when I reached Fort Kent, I realized there wasn't much to do there—so I opted to take a day trip to Canada and drive all the way to Quebec City. I'm half-French, and speak the language fluently—and when you drive up to northern Maine, it really isn't that far.
First, I crossed the border over the St. John River (which separates Fort Kent from the New Brunswick village of Clair.) The road then crosses small French Canadian towns—while hugging the U.S. border closely. Not much on the American side in these parts, just mostly woods.
When I reached the Quebec town of Pohénégamook, there actually was a Customs check-point to head back into Maine. So I get out of the car, and ask this woman in French if she can show me where EXACTLY the U.S.-Canadian border is located.
She points me to her house—where along side the exterior was the sign "CAN-US."
The U.S.-Canadian border has a lot of funny markers like this, a fact that President Scott Walker will have a hard time resolving.
Our friends at Buzzfeed have started to help out with more hilarious photos.
NOTE: I should point out that this photo was taken in June 2000, and I don't know whether it is still the case that the U.S.-Canadian border runs through this house—or if anything has changed in the past 15 years. But it appears that it's probably still the case.
UPDATE: According to this screen-shot from Google Maps, there are definitely houses at the border of Pohénégamook, Quebec and Estcourt Station, Maine where the international boundary runs right through the middle: