By Marvin Baker, a new weekly column in The Kenmare News
Posted 4/21/20 (Tue)
But did you know there are several small towns that also have the distinction of having a twin across a border. It may not be unique in the
Perhaps the most interesting set of communities are the three that make up what is known locally as the Pembina Triangle. Pembina,
There isn’t much left of Noyes, but Pembina and Emerson are both bustling because of 24-hour ports of entry. It’s interesting how you have the community of Pembina, then there is an entirely separate industrial complex alongside Interstate 29. It doesn’t hurt that it’s the first stop for Canadians coming into the
Portal and North Portal have always provided a great example, not only of how two separate communities can work together, but how a state and a province, or two separate countries can work together for that matter.
Portal in
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Portal and North Portal is that you can dial a local phone number and you’re actually calling into another country – a local number with a 701 area code or a 306 area code.
Ceres Global Ag owns a massive facility on the Canadian side and Viterra, a Canadian company, now owns the former General Mills terminal on the
Neche, in
This is also a busy port of entry linking N.D. Highway 18 and Manitoba Provincial Highway 30. Ports of entry are obvious in either community, but the locals, most of them at least, consider it one community since they are so close.
In fact, in 2005 and 2006, Brian Stockton started the Border Tribune in Neche that drew subscribers and advertisers from both
Hannah and Snowflake,
The
Hannah had its 15 minutes of fame in 1995 when six Somali nationals sneaked across the border and were spotted in Hannah, in the middle of the night, in the winter. They were all arrested and deported.
On the
These two communities bump up against each other and this time it isn’t a river between them, it’s nothing more than an imaginary state boundary.
Further south are Beach and Wibaux. In this case the
For anyone who doesn’t live in the southwest, Hettinger and
They are 25 miles apart, but share a lot of business, culture, school events and ranching.
The only other communities on the South Dakota border would be Ellendale and Frederick, S.D., which are a mere 12 miles apart but are one community as far as the locals are concerned.
For those who live in