Not only is Stanstead home to the Haskell Free Library and Opera House—the only heritage building deliberately constructed straddling the border between both countries—it also features Canusa Street (Rue Canusa), one of a number of streets in the world where the country border corresponds to the middle line marker, effectively making across-the-street neighbors residents of two countries.

As volunteers attempted to clear the road with shovels, the snow banks became so high that steps needed to be carved into them.

[6] Stanstead Plain was founded in 1796 by Johnson Taplin, who came from New England in search of good farming land.

[7] The town grew in the 19th century, due to the influx of United Empire Loyalists and the development of the granite industry.

The town was the main centre of commerce of the region through the late 18th century, though eventually losing pre-eminence to Sherbrooke.

Rock Island is known for the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, deliberately constructed on the Canada–US border and opened in 1904.

Visitors today may still enter the facility from the Canadian or American sides, though those who use it as a border crossing must report to their respective customs office.

From 1874 to 1935, a Chautauqua-style holiday resort, including a meeting hall, a dining room and about 30 country cottages, attracted thousands of people, mainly Americans from New York and Boston.

The line ran from the Canadian Pacific mainline in Sherbrooke-Lennoxville south to Newport, Vermont, where onward connections were available via White River Junction to New York City and Boston.

[citation needed] A building located at 3, Rue Principale (Main Street) is in a similar state to the Haskell Library—a line runs through its north aisle.

[citation needed] The Tomifobia River runs through the town of Stanstead, dividing the Canada–US border at times.

In other places, the international border runs through individual homes, so that meals prepared in one country are eaten in the other.

Summers are warm but rarely hot and are in general cooler than areas further west on similar parallels.

The Canadian side of the former Butterfield building is being used by small industrial businesses, such as the Sealander Waterworks as a demonstration plant for renewable energy.

[24] The Haskell Free Library and Opera House has an international border line painted on the floors of the building.

[27] Drinking water for the adjacent towns of Derby Line and Stanstead is pumped from wells in Canada, stored in a reservoir in the United States and distributed through a system maintained by Canadians.