Maine State Route 189
<< Maine State Route 188 All Points in Maine Maine State Route 190 >>

Termini and Mileage (2006)	Termini Main alignment: Int of ST RTE 189, US 1, Whiting to Int of MAINE-CANADA, BR#597, Lubec Mileage Main alignment: 11.19 miles (total over all segments)
Notes and History	ME 189 is a route of international significance as it is the only way on or off Campobello Island, which is Canadian territory, not American. It has always occupied roughly its current routing since its initial designation in 1925 between Whiting at NEI 1 (now US 1) and the international border near Lubec as one of the designated spurs of former lettered highway N. Originally ferry service bridged the small narrows between Lubec and the island; in those days ME 189 entered town on Main St and continued on Main St to the ferry landing at street's end, emerging on the other side of the international border as Narrows Ferry Cr. In 1962, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial International Bridge was constructed, an 874' (267m) 6-span steel bridge with a maximum vertical clearance of 47' (14m), replacing Main St in the routing with the bridge approach from Washington St which remains the routing today, and giving traffic direct access to the island over the Lubec Narrows which enters New Brunswick as NB 774. The Roosevelt Bridge was dedicated and opened by FDR's eldest son James Roosevelt, New Brunswick Premier Louis J. Robichaud, Governor John H. Reed, then-Senator Edmund Muskie and former NB Premier H. John Fleming, among others, at a cost of $939,800 shared by Canada and New Brunswick, and the United States and Maine. Lubec is traditionally the town furthest east in the USA and thus the first place to see the sunrise (though its northern neighbour Eastport along ME 190 also claims that title); that would imply, then, that the portion of ME 189 at the international border is exactly the furthest point east in Lubec itself, and thus the entire United States. However, Sail Rock at Quoddy Head State Park to the south actually has that honour, sticking out just a few thousand feet further east.
Archival Photographs
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Bridge on ME 189 on the day of its dedication 13 August 1962 (Highway News 9/62). At the time of this photograph, Campobello Island had a population of approximately 2,000. Note that the customs facilities were not built at the time of its opening, and that the Canadian flags flying are the old variety (not the maple leaf).
Additional Resources	Campobello Bridge (Points of Interest, the Official Home Site of Campobello Island)

<< Maine State Route 188 All Points in Maine Maine State Route 190 >>

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