The customs office, established in 1913, was housed in the Public Building about 18 kilometres (11 mi) north of the border.

The office operated under the administrative oversight of the Port of North Portal.

[1] Canada built its double-canopy border station in 1972.

The US Customs office similarly relocated to the border in 1937.

The US replaced its red brick border station with a ranch-style facility in 1975, and then demolished that in favor of a large grey modern facility[4] which opened in 2011.