Porthill-Rykerts Border Crossing facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Porthill-Rykerts Border Crossing |
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Canadian Border Inspection Station at Rykerts, British Columbia
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| Country | United States; Canada |
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| Coordinates | 49°00′00″N 116°29′58″W / 48.999873°N 116.49956°W |
| Details | |
| Opened | 1883 |
| US Phone | (208) 267-5309 |
| Canadian Phone | 1-800-461-9999 (calls within Canada) 1-204-983-3500 (calls outside of Canada) |
| Hours | 7:00 AM-5:00 PM |
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U.S. Inspection Station – Porthill, Idaho
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| NRHP reference No. | 14000252 |
| Added to NRHP | May 22, 2014 |
The Porthill-Rykerts Border Crossing is a special place where America meets Canada. It connects the town of Bonners Ferry, Idaho in Idaho with Creston, British Columbia in British Columbia. This crossing is part of the long border between the two countries. On the American side, you'll find Idaho State Highway 1, and on the Canadian side, it's British Columbia Highway 21. This road continues north towards Creston. Porthill is the name for the American side of the crossing, while Rykerts is the name for the Canadian side.
Porthill is a small, unincorporated community in Boundary County, Idaho, Idaho. It sits right on the border with British Columbia. It's one of only three places in Idaho where you can cross into Canada. The community was named after its founder, Charles Plummer Hill. The Kootenai River flows just west of Porthill.
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Early Days and First Settlers
In 1860, a special marker was put up on the east bank of the Kootenai River to show the border. The American side was once called Ockonook, which means "a grassy hillside with rocks." Around 1871, David McLoughlin and his family moved to Ockonook. He built a log house that was also a trading post and a place for gold prospectors to stay. In 1878, a prospector named George Wallace Hall claimed 320 acres (129.5 hectares) of land in what is now Lister, British Columbia.
Steamboats and Customs
In 1883, John C. Rykert set up a Canadian customs station just north of the border. This was to check steamboats and other boats traveling from Bonners Ferry to Kootenay Lake. Rykert was a very busy man. He worked as a customs officer, an immigration inspector, a gold commissioner's agent, and he registered ships.
By 1890, Mike Driscoll owned the Palace hotel at Rykert's custom-house. In 1893, Charles Plummer Hill became the US customs officer, a job he held for 10 years. William Roger Huscroft and his family moved to the Canadian side in 1891. They built a log cabin, but a big flood in 1894 made them move to higher ground in Lister.
Before 1895, David McLoughlin taught children from both sides of the border in a room at Mike Driscoll's hotel. His farm was only 200 yards (183 meters) south of the border. In the mid-1890s, Clarke Quarrie ran the Boundary Line hotel.
By 1897, J.I. Barnes also had a general store. That year, McLoughlin officially received the land for Porthill. Charles P. Hill bought 80 acres (32.4 hectares) from McLoughlin. As postmaster, Hill successfully changed the settlement's name to Porthill.
From 1897, the name Bedlington was also used for Rykerts. Bedlington was a mining camp nearby. The train stop north of the border was first called Bedlington, but by 1904, it was renamed Rykerts. The name Bedlington slowly stopped being used. During the 1890s, police officer Sloan was stationed at Rykerts. Cattle drives from Alberta often came south into the US through Porthill.
Trains Arrive
During the building of the Kootenai Valley and Bedlington & Nelson railways, a hospital was set up at Port Hill. In October 1899, the Bedlington train station was built. The railway tracks crossed the border heading north from Bonners Ferry to Wynndel. The section south to Bonners Ferry opened first. The northern part didn't open until late 1900.
Regular train service soon ended at Wynndel, then Creston. By February 1904, a train that carried both passengers and freight ran only as far north as Creston. In 1907, a lumber company built a new lumber camp with a train track at Rykerts. In 1908, one of their trains crashed, and the engineer died. In 1911, a horse-drawn sleigh was hit by a train near the crossing, but the people inside were not badly hurt.
In December 1914, the last mixed train ran north to Creston. The train tracks between Wynndel and Porthill were removed in 1916. By 1915, Port Hill became the northern end for the mixed train. Around 1927, all passenger train service stopped. Freight train service ended in the 1970s.
Road Travel and Cars
In 1892, Sam Smith started a stagecoach service from Bonners Ferry to Ockonook. This was very important, especially in winter when ice could block river travel. The wagon roads were rough, but winter sleigh travel was smoother. Porthill had good hotels and saloons.
In the mid-1910s, Dunc. Cameron ran a car service between Porthill and Bonners Ferry. In 1923, a new daily car service started between Creston and Bonners Ferry.
In 1930, a bus service from Cranbrook to Spokane began using the crossing. This was after the road on the hill to the south was covered with gravel, so cars didn't need chains anymore. In the summer of that decade, buses could travel from Creston to Porthill in just 20 minutes. Creston Bus Lines offered a service between Creston and Porthill from at least 1947 to 1953.
Canadian Highway and Rykerts Development
By 1909, the highway between Creston and Porthill was considered good. The next year, the wagon road from Erickson was improved for cars. During the 1910s, the highway on the Canadian side was thought to be not as good as the one south of the border.
In 1922, J.C. Rykert retired as the border officer after 40 years of service. In 1920, fewer than 200 cars used the crossing. But by 1926, about 4,000 cars and 18,000 people crossed. In 1928, a new road (today's Highway 21) was built from Creston. A customs office was also built and doubled in size. In 1929, 9,722 cars and 29,230 people crossed. The next year, 13,233 cars and 45,421 people crossed.
In 1934, the road was being made wider to become a standard highway. When a good highway opened for the Eastport–Kingsgate Border Crossing, traffic at Rykerts dropped by 10 percent in 1934. That year, 11,512 cars and 36,892 passengers crossed. In 1956, the highway was completely paved.
In 2014-2015, 270,085 travelers crossed at this border point. A new building was constructed in 2017 to replace the old one from 1972. During the April 2020 COVID-19 restrictions, Canada changed the border hours. The crossing is now open daily from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
US Highway and Porthill Development
In 1909, Geo. Price sold the Porthill hotel. C.J. McClure, the train station agent, bought the Barnes general store. Martin Peterson and H.S. French also owned stores at this time.
In 1911, the old Whitney hotel became a restaurant. The next year, Jim English reopened his hotel. Joe Stick was the mayor during this time. In 1915, a fire started near the Whitney hotel. It destroyed the Whitney and English hotels, their stables, a general store, and other buildings. Some buildings survived, like a barbershop and a general store/post office. Only the Ingram and Kelly store was rebuilt. Later that year, Sam T. Jordan opened a store.
Ernest D. King moved to Porthill around 1904. His son, Hartley Lester King, was born in 1916 and lived to be almost 102 years old.
In 1925, a new highway north was built to within 8 miles (12.9 kilometers) of the border. In 1932, a gas station and a lunch room opened in Porthill.
In 1967, the US replaced its old brick border station from 1938 with the wooden building that is there today. The new building was placed in a different spot, so the old one was saved. In 2014, the old border station was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Today, Porthill has a post office and a tavern with a gas station. The US border post hours are the same as the Canadian ones.
Porthill Ferry
In 1915, a new ferry that could carry 100 tons was put in place to cross the river at Porthill. In 1920, the county decided to build a replacement ferry.
Around the 1960s, a logging truck got onto the ferry on the western side of the river. The truck was in neutral with its engine running. When the ferry pulled away from the shore, the truck jolted, and the gear shifted into low. Slowly, the truck moved forward, rolled off the front of the ferry, and fell into the river. The logs it was carrying helped it float. After the ferry pushed the truck and logs to the eastern shore, a bulldozer pulled the truck out of the river. The engine started again, and the truck continued on its way to a sawmill in Creston. The Porthill ferry operated until at least the mid-1960s.
Images for kids
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Former US border station at Porthill, Idaho
