The St. Croix River marks the international boundary between the United States and Canada, forming a natural border between the towns on its banks. Calais, Maine (pop. 3,447) is divided from St. Stephen by a bridge, the eleventh most important link between the world's two largest trading partners.
Population (2000) : 4,961
Residents of St.Stephen and Calais regard their community as one place, cooperating in their fire departments and other community projects. During the War of 1812, the British military provided St. Stephen with a large supply of gunpowder for protection against the dastardly Americans in Calais. The town elders gave the gunpowder to Calais for its July Fourth celebrations!
Historically a lumber and ship building economy until the early part of the 1900's, by the end of World War II the town's main employers were the Ganong Chocolate company (established 1873, it is Canada's oldest candy company) and the second largest textile mill in Canada built in 1882 on the river where it operated with its own hydro-electric generating station. In 1957, the textile mill closed but the confectionery maker remains a key employer.