Press Release

DERBY LINE – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) submitted the following Statement for the Congressional Record commemorating the inauguration of a new entryway on the Canadian side of the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, a centuries-old community landmark that straddles the U.S.-Canada border. A representative from Senator Welch’s office attended the opening and presented this Statement for the Record to celebrate the occasion and continued relations between Vermonters and Canadians. Read the full Statement below and download the Statement here : Statement of Senator Peter Welch On the Haskell Free Library and Opera House Mr. President, on June 10, Vermont and Canada will come together to celebrate the inauguration of a new entryway on the Canadian side of the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, a building that straddles the U.S.-Canada border. For 200 years, Derby Line, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec, have functioned as one community. Citizens of the United States and Canada—but born in the same hospital, colleagues in the same factory, and teammates on the same sports teams. They even drink the same water. They also shared the same cultural center, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House. A surveyor’s error in 1771 mistakenly mapped the border between Quebec and Vermont roughly 3/4 mile north of the 45 th parallel, and the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842 finalized the physical coordinates, cementing the original surveying error in place, somewhat arbitrarily dividing properties and roads between the U.S. and Canada. For over a century, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House has stood as a symbol of lasting goodwill and mutual friendship. Since 1903, this small but mighty beacon of bi-nationalism has been welcoming people in from both sides of the border with nothing more than a strip of black tape on the floor to demarcate the international border, allowing both Canadian and U.S. citizens to enter the library through the U.S. door in Derby Line, VT. Where else can you see a theater production in which much of the audience is seated in one country, while the performers onstage are in another? While it has been a challenging period of shared history that brought us to this moment, we celebrate the continuation of the library’s commitment to continue sharing municipal services and resources such as this one, just as Martha Stewart Haskell had originally envisioned. The municipalities of Stanstead and Derby Line, located in Quebec and Vermont, are committed to community collaboration in all of its forms. June 10 will be a celebration of what we here in the Northeast do best: embrace community, and embrace collaboration—especially between neighbors. Thank you to all of the members of this very special bilateral community who are working together to help make this happen. ###