Emerson, Manitoba

Town of Emerson
Town of Emerson Location of Emerson in Manitoba
Coordinates: 49°00′25″N 97°12′53″W
Country	Canada
Province	Manitoba
Region	Pembina Valley
Incorporated	November 3, 1879
Government
• City Mayor	Wayne Arseny
• MLA (Emerson)	Cliff Graydon (PC)
• MP (Provencher)	Vic Toews (C)
Area
• Total	22.28 km2 (8.6 sq mi)
Elevation	242 m (795 ft)
Population (2006)
• Total	689
• Density	30.9/km2 (80/sq mi)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)

Emerson is a town in south central Manitoba, Canada, with a population of 655. The town is named after writer Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Emerson is located on the east bank of the Red River, just north of the border with the United States at the point where Manitoba, Minnesota, and North Dakota meet. Over the years, it has been an important railroad and border-crossing town. Just south of Emerson (in Pembina, North Dakota), two major U.S. rail lines, the Great Northern Railway (now the BNSF Railway) and the Soo Line Railroad cross the border and are met, respectively, by the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railways. There are customs inspection facilities for both lines on both sides of the border. Emerson borders the Rural Municipality of Montcalm, the Rural Municipality of Franklin, Kittson County, Minnesota, and Pembina County, North Dakota. The small towns of St. Vincent, Minnesota and Pembina, North Dakota are not far across its southern border with the United States. The town's education needs are served by Emerson Elementary (K-8) and Roseau Valley School in nearby Dominion City. The side of town west of the river is known as West Lynne.

History

From around 1936 to 1956, Emerson obtained its power across the US / Canada border from a long 2400V distribution circuit originating from Pembina, ND (and which line passed through St. Vincent, MN and Noyes, MN on the way). This line was initially operated by the Interstate Power Company and was sold to the Otter Tail Power Company in 1944. In 1956, the Town of Emerson made arrangements to obtain its electrical needs from Manitoba Hydro and the cross-border distribution line was removed.

Transportation

Traffic crossing the border into Canada must pass through Customs at Interstate 29/Highway 29 on the west side of the river. It is the largest border crossing between Interstate 5 in Washington-British Columbia and the Bluewater Bridge in Michigan-Ontario.

U.S. Route 75, which becomes Highway 75 at the border, was once the principal road, and the road on the North Dakota side was the secondary road, even for several years after being built into I-29. At the junction of Highways 75 and 29 just west of Emerson, the Highway 29 traffic had to stop and make a 90 degree turn onto Highway 75. Around 1985, Manitoba redesigned the intersection so that Highway 29 was the primary route. Highway 29 traffic now heads straight onto northbound Highway 75, while Highway 75 traffic coming from Emerson has to stop and then make a 90 degree turn either to continue on northbound Highway 75 or to go south on Highway 29 to the border. As of 2006, one can still see on Google Earth the remnants of old Highway 75 as it went west from today's interchange and then made a curve to the north to join with the existing road. As a result of this change (and the eventual closure of the customs house on Highway 75), there is much less traffic in the main part of Emerson than there once was, and Noyes, Minnesota, just south of Emerson, has become something of a ghost town.

Climate

Emerson
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     26   −12 −22     21   −9 −19     30   −1 −11     39   10 −1     61   20 6     87   24 11     78   27 14     67   26 12     51   19 7     35   12 1     26   0 −8     26   −9 −18 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source: Environment Canada
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     1   10 −8     0.8   16 −3     1.2   31 13     1.5   51 30     2.4   67 42     3.4   75 52     3.1   80 57     2.6   78 54     2   67 45     1.4   54 34     1   32 17     1   17 0 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

The town has a Plant Hardiness of zone 4a.

Local media

Television

• KGFE Channel 2 (PBS) Grand Forks, North Dakota
• CBWT Channel 6 (CBC) Winnipeg
• CKY Channel 7 (CTV) Winnipeg
• WDAZ Channel 8 (ABC) Grand Forks, North Dakota
• CKND Channel 9 (Global) Winnipeg
• KNRR Channel 12 (FOX) Pembina, North Dakota
• CIIT Channel 35 (Omni) Winnipeg
• K58BP Channel 58 (CBS) Glasston, North Dakota (KXJB Tv4 Fargo translator)

External links

• Emerson website
• Town of Emerson Community Profile
• Map of Emerson at Statcan
•  "Emerson". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.