Vanceboro, Maine

Vanceboro, Maine
—  Town  —
Vanceboro, Maine Location within the state of Maine
Coordinates: 45°33′30″N 67°26′19″W
Country	United States
State	Maine
County	Washington
Area
• Total	22.6 sq mi (58.5 km2)
• Land	20.4 sq mi (52.8 km2)
• Water	2.2 sq mi (5.7 km2)
Elevation	397 ft (121 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	147
• Density	7.2/sq mi (2.8/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	04491
Area code(s)	207
FIPS code	23-78675
GNIS feature ID	0582777

Vanceboro is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The town was named after landowner William Vance. The town is located at the eastern terminus of Maine State Route 6. Vanceboro is across the St. Croix River from St. Croix, New Brunswick, Canada, to which it is connected by the Saint Croix-Vanceboro Bridge. The crossing has a 24-hour customs station managing the border. Vanceboro is also connected to St. Croix by the Saint Croix-Vanceboro Railway Bridge which is used by the New Brunswick Southern Railway.

The population was 147 at the 2000 census.

History

Vanceboro was selected as the border crossing for the European and North American Railway (E&NA) between Bangor, Maine and Saint John, New Brunswick during surveys in the 1860s.

This line was opened by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant and Governor General of Canada Lord Lisgar during a ceremony at the border in October 1871. In 1882, the E&NA's rail line from Vanceboro to Bangor was leased by the Maine Central Railroad. In 1889, the MEC's rail line through Vanceboro became part of the transcontinental network of the Canadian Pacific Railway following construction of the International Railway of Maine. In 1955 the MEC purchased the entire line from the E&NA shareholders and in 1974 the CPR purchased the line through Vanceboro from the MEC. On January 1, 1995 CPR sold the line through Vanceboro to New Brunswick Southern Railway which operates as the Eastern Maine Railway in the United States.

For more details on this topic, see Vanceboro international bridge bombing.

On February 2, 1915, Lt. Werner Horn, a German army reservist, bombed the international railway bridge crossing the St. Croix River from Vanceboro into Canada in an unsuccessful attempt to sabotage the CPR line across Maine; it was alleged that the railway was being used to transport war material across the then-neutral United States territory.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 22.6 square miles (59 km²), of which, 20.4 square miles (53 km²) of it is land and 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²) of it (9.64%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 147 people, 68 households, and 42 families residing in the town. The population density was 7.2 people per square mile (2.8/km²). There were 159 housing units at an average density of 7.8 per square mile (3.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.28% White, 0.68% African American and 2.04% Native American. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.68% of the population.

There were 68 households out of which 23.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 5.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.2% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.69.

In the town the population was spread out with 17.0% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 36.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 119.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $17,386, and the median income for a family was $24,063. Males had a median income of $23,750 versus $15,625 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,580. There were 19.5% of families and 18.4% of the population living below the poverty line, including 8.0% of under eighteens and 14.3% of those over 64.

Economy

Vanceboro is home to a border post which controls the Vanceboro port of entry for Maine State Route 6 and the New Brunswick Southern Railway line. The town is also home to the Vanceboro Elementary School, Holly's General Store and the New Brunswick Southern Railway yard. Statistics show that there are over 50% of people in Vanceboro receiving state funding.