Beebe Plain, Vermont


Beebe Plain is an unincorporated community in the town of Derby in Orleans County, Vermont, United States which extends into the Canadian municipality of Stanstead, Quebec. The village is divided by the Canada–United States border between Canada and the United States; the Canadian portion of Beebe Plain had the status of an incorporated municipality in its own right until 1995.

Geography

The international border runs up the middle of Canusa Street. Local legend claims that a group of rather drunken surveyors, when given the task of determining the United States-Canada border line in the region, decided to place the border right through the center of the village along what is now Canusa Street.
Beebe Plain is part of a group of nearby border villages which includes Derby Line, Vermont and Stanstead, Quebec. Beebe Plain is located near Lake Memphremagog between Newport and Magog.

Industry

Beebe granite or "Stanstead Grey Granite" is famous for its use in architectural design. The production of granite from the region may well be the largest industry, with much of the stone being used in the construction of tombstones and memorials.

History

The village was founded circa 1798 by Thomas B. Beebe b. 1776 in Windsor, Vermont.

Features

The former Massawippi Valley Railway line once joined Lennoxville, Quebec through a border crossing at Beebe Plain to Newport, Vermont. That line was abandoned and removed by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1989–1991. Portions of the former right-of-way remain open for recreational use:
The section between Beebe's rue Principale and North Derby Road is no longer open, forcing cyclists onto Beebe's main street. A section between Ayer's Cliff and North Hatley is also no longer open.