Point Roberts is a

pene-exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

of the US state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

on the southernmost tip of the

Tsawwassen Tsawwassen ( ) is a suburban, mostly residential community on a peninsula in the southwestern corner of the City of Delta in British Columbia, Canada. It provides the only road access to the American territory on the southern tip of the peninsul ...

peninsula, south of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia, Canada. The area, which had a population of 1,191 at the 2020 census, is reached from the rest of the United States by traveling through Canada, or without passing through Canada by boat or private airplane. It is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

Whatcom County Whatcom County (, ) is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts) of the Canadian province of British Columbia to t ...

, Washington, with a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, and a ZIP Code of 98281. Direct sea and air connections with the rest of the U.S. are available across

Boundary Bay Boundary Bay is a shallow bay situated on the Pacific coast of North America on the Canada–United States border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington. Geography Boundary Bay is bounded to the east ...

. Point Roberts was created when the United Kingdom and the United States settled the Pacific Northwest American–Canadian border dispute in the mid-19th century with the

Oregon Treaty The Oregon Treaty was a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to ...

. The two parties agreed that the 49th parallel would define the boundary between their respective territories, and the small area that incorporates Point Roberts is south of the 49th parallel. Questions about ceding the territory to the United Kingdom and later to Canada have been raised since its creation; however, its status has remained unchanged.

History

The area around the southern Tsawwassen Peninsula was a favored fishing spot for several

Coast Salish The Coast Salish peoples are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak on ...

groups, who named the peninsula "q̓ʷulƛ̕əl̕". The first Europeans to see Point Roberts were members of the 1791 expedition of

Francisco de Eliza Francisco de Eliza y Reventa (1759 – February 19, 1825) was a Spanish naval officer, navigator, and explorer. He is remembered mainly for his work in the Pacific Northwest. He was the commandant of the Spanish post in Nootka Sound on Vancouv ...

. The maps produced from Eliza's explorations depicted Point Roberts as "Isla de Cepeda" or "Isla de Zepeda." In 1792, the British expedition of

George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

and the Spanish expedition of

Dionisio Alcalá Galiano Dionisio Alcalá Galiano (8 October 1760 – 21 October 1805) was a Spanish Navy officer, cartographer, and explorer. He mapped various coastlines in Europe and the Americas with unprecedented accuracy using new technology such as chronomete ...

encountered one another near Point Roberts. In the morning of June 13, 1792, the two ships under Galiano sailed into Boundary Bay and verified Point Roberts was not an island, which was thus renamed ''Punta Cepeda''. They then sailed around Point Roberts and immediately encountered HMS ''Chatham'', the second ship of Vancouver's expedition. The two parties made contact and agreed to share information and work together in mapping the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia () or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the extreme northwestern mainland coast of Washington, United Stat ...

. Point Roberts acquired its present name from George Vancouver, who named it after his friend Henry Roberts, who had originally been given command of the expedition. Point Roberts assumed its present political status in 1846, when the

extended the 49th parallel as the boundary between U.S. and British territory from the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

Georgia Strait The Strait of Georgia () or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the extreme northwestern mainland coast of Washington (state), Wash ...

Treaty history specific to Point Roberts

After years of joint occupation of the disputed area between

Mexican California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

and Russian America (now

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

) known as the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...

to the Americans, and as the

Columbia District The Columbia District was a fur-trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, in both the United States and British North America in the 19th century. Much of its territory overlapped with the temporarily jointly occupi ...

to the British, American expansionists like U.S. Senator Edward A. Hannegan of Indiana urged

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and ...

to annex the entire Oregon Country up to latitude 54°40′N, as the Democrats had been elected on the slogan " Fifty-Four Forty or Fight". While his government asserted that the title of the United States of America to the entire territory was unquestionable even though there was only one U.S. resident (a former Briton) north of the Columbia basin, Polk and Secretary of State

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

made an offer of a boundary at 49 degrees with the line straight across

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

, with no commercial privilege to be granted to the British south of the line, with the exception of free ports on Vancouver Island. The British rejected the offer and the U.S. soon withdrew it. On April 18, 1846, notice was forwarded to London that the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

had adopted a joint resolution abrogating the

Treaty of 1818 The Convention respecting fisheries, boundary and the restoration of slaves, also known as the London Convention, Anglo-American Convention of 1818, Convention of 1818, or simply the Treaty of 1818, is an international treaty signed in 1818 betw ...

which provided for joint occupancy. The British emissary,

Richard Pakenham Sir Richard Pakenham PC (19 May 1797 – 28 October 1868) was a British diplomat of Anglo-Irish background. He served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1843 until 1847, during which time he unsuccessfully worked to prevent t ...

, had been advised that the last concession he could expect of the United States was to bend the boundary at the 49th parallel around the southern end of Vancouver Island. Fort Victoria was viewed as the future center for settlements on the island. It was deemed necessary around this point in time to give up territory on the

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 ...

to keep Vancouver Island part of

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

Lord Aberdeen George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in fo ...

, British Foreign Secretary, proposed a treaty making the 49th parallel the boundary to the sea, giving the UK the whole of Vancouver Island. The Treaty of Oregon was concluded on June 15, 1846. The acceptance of the 49th parallel as the international boundary was concluded without precise knowledge of its effects. Later, as the Boundary Commission surveyed the line, the British government realized the peninsula of Point Roberts would be an isolated part of the United States. The

British Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign an ...

instructed Captain James Prevost, the British Boundary Commissioner, to inform his U.S. counterpart of the situation and request Point Roberts be left to Britain, because of the great inconvenience it would be to the United States. If the American Boundary Commission was reluctant, Prevost was instructed to offer "some equivalent compensation by a slight alteration of the Line of Boundary on the Mainland". It is not known how the U.S. commissioner responded, but Point Roberts remained part of the United States. File:US-border-notice.jpg, Notice at the international boundary between Canada and the United States in Point Roberts File:Warning sign at Point Roberts.jpg, Boundary post in Point Roberts, Washington at the boundary between U.S. and Canada; photo taken at English Bluff Road, Delta facing Marine Drive, Point Roberts File:Boundary Marker No.1 Point Roberts.JPG, Boundary Marker No.1 on the

49th parallel north The 49th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 49degree (angle), ° true north, north of Earth's equator. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. The city of Paris is about south of the 49t ...

on the western shore of Point Roberts, erected in 1861

Relationship with Canada

During the 1858 Fraser gold rush, prospectors from Victoria, BC who were attempting to avoid tax collection briefly settled Point Roberts. Their settlement was called Robert's Town and consisted of six wooden buildings, including a store and saloon, but lasted less than a year. In 1949, there was talk about Point Roberts seceding from the U.S. and joining Canada. A regional development plan for the Lower Mainland presented in 1952 suggested turning Point Roberts into an international park or leasing it for 99 or 999 years. In 1973, a drought that caused the wells to run dry created tensions between Point Roberts's U.S. and Canadian residents. The Americans threatened to cut off the Canadian residents' water supply — and hung up signs saying "Canadians Go Home" — unless the Canadian municipality of Delta agreed to provide water. An agreement signed on August 28, 1987, requires the Point Roberts Water District to purchase raw water on an annual basis from the Greater Vancouver Water District. Delta Fire Department also provides assistance to the Point Roberts volunteer fire department when requested. Until 1988, BC Tel (now

Telus Communications Telus Communications Inc. (TCI) is the wholly owned principal subsidiary of Telus Corporation, a Canadian national telecommunications company that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services including internet access, v ...

) provided telephone service; the sole exchange prefix of 945, officially part of area code 206, could also be dialed through area code 604 during the period of BC Tel ownership. After the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

of 2001, security at border crossings—including Point Roberts—was increased, leading to long delays for residents. The Canadian border was closed to non-essential travel in March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, which had been worsening in both countries but especially in the United States. In 2020, a study found that Point Roberts had lost 80 percent of its business and hundreds of seasonal residents as a result of the pandemic and border shutdown. The area, described as a "

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

" by the local chamber of commerce director, had no confirmed cases of COVID-19 . A temporary ferry was set up by the Port of Bellingham in August 2020 to connect Point Roberts to the mainland, initially to Blaine and later to Bellingham. The Canadian government waived its mandatory COVID testing requirements for Point Roberts residents in February 2021, following negotiations with Washington state. The border was fully reopened for non-essential travel in August 2021 and the ferry service ceased the same month. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Point Roberts was acclaimed as the "safest place" for avoiding

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

due to its isolation from the mainland United States and Canada and very low case numbers. Because of limited access to the rest of Whatcom County and border closures into Canada, the case numbers remained very low. The City of Delta installed a

chain-link fence A chain-link fence (also referred to as wire netting, wire-mesh fence, chain-wire fence, cyclone fence, hurricane fence, or diamond-mesh fence) is a type of woven fence usually made from galvanized or linear low-density polyethylene-coated st ...

at the end of English Bluff Road in 2025 to deter accidental crossings after an elderly man walked into Point Roberts. The fence was poorly received by local residents and at least one Delta council member demanded its removal.

Geography

Point Roberts is a U.S.

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

bordered by Canada and the waters of

. It is south of

Downtown Vancouver Downtown Vancouver is the central business district and the city centre list of neighbourhoods in Vancouver, neighbourhood of Vancouver, Canada, on the northwestern shore of the Burrard Peninsula in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. Point Roberts is part of the U.S. because it lies south of the 49th parallel, which constitutes the Canada–US border in that area. Other exclaves of this type include parts of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

such as the

Northwest Angle The Northwest Angle, known simply as the Angle by locals, and coextensive with Angle Township, is a pene-exclave of northern Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota. Excluding surveying errors, it is the only place in the contiguous United States ...

and Elm Point, Minnesota.

Alburgh, Vermont Alburgh (formerly Alburg) is a town in Grand Isle County, Vermont, United States, founded in 1781 by Ira Allen. The population was 2,106 at the 2020 United States census. Alburgh is on the Alburgh Tongue, a peninsula extending from Canada into ...

and nearby Province Point are separated from the rest of the U.S. by Lake Champlain, though Alburgh is reachable by highway bridge from "mainland" Vermont. Point Roberts borders the municipality of

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

in British Columbia. Boundary Bay lies to the east of Point Roberts and the

to the south and west. The U.S. portion of the peninsula is about from north to south and about from east to west. It has an area of , all land.

Geology

Beneath Point Roberts, the bedrock of the Chuckanut Formation was deposited as an alluvial plain containing layers of sediments consisting of silt, sand, gravel and peat. During the last 60 million years the sediments were compacted and folded by mountain building forces from continental drift to form strata of siltstone, sandstone, conglomerate and coal. During recent geologic history, the Chuckanut formation was overridden by four or more glaciations. Point Roberts consists of a series of the resulting glacial sediments resting upon the Chuckanut Formation. The lowest glacial sediments (now near sea level) are from Salmon Springs or older glaciations. At the peak of the most recent glaciation, the main ice sheet was in excess of thick as it moved southward between Vancouver Island and the Canadian Coast Range and down the Strait of Georgia. A smaller lobe of the continental glacier in excess of traveled down the Fraser River flood plains merging with the main ice sheet over the greater Vancouver area and Whatcom and Skagit Counties. The coalesced continental ice sheet traveled south terminating in the vicinity of

Chehalis, Washington Chehalis ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 7,439 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is located in the Chehalis valley and is split by Interstate 5 (I-5) and State Route 6 ...

. Relatively impermeable Vashon glacial lodgment till (estimated to be as much as thick at the uppermost layer) was plastered over the advance outwash as the weight of the thick plus Strait of Georgia ice lobe moved southward over approximately 10,000 years. (Armstrong, et al., 1965) Point Roberts, Tsawwassen, and part of British Columbia extending past English Bluff comprised an island at the close of the

Vashon Glaciation The Vashon Glaciation, Vashon Stadial or Vashon Stade is a local term for the most recent period of very cold climate in which during its peak, glaciers covered the entire Salish Sea as well as present day Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia and other surr ...

, approximately 11,000 years ago. As the ice sheets melted, the thinner Fraser Lobe began to float while the Strait of Georgia lobe acted as a dam forming a lake under the Fraser Lobe. Sediments settling from the melting, floating ice resulted in the accumulation of or more of glacial marine drift over much of western Whatcom County. (Easterbrook, 1976; Geologic Map of Western Whatcom County, Washington, USGS, Map I-854-B) This glacial marine drift is generally soft and was not consolidated by the weight of the glacier. A discontinuous, thin mantle of this glacial marine drift above the glacial lodgement till has been identified sporadically across Point Roberts. The uppermost layer of glacial sediments consists of recessional sand, silt, and gravel deposited as the Strait of Georgia ice lobe receded. Since the recession of the glaciers, the Fraser River has deposited

deltaic A river delta is a landform, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or with a body of stagnant water. The creati ...

sediments on the north and easterly side of the Point Roberts-Tsawwassen Island, connecting it to the Greater Vancouver mainland (approximately 2,500 years ago, Murray 2008). At some locations, these sediments have been eroded or removed, exposing the lodgement till.

Parks and features

* Maple Beach (NE) * Monument Park (NW) * Lighthouse Marine Park (SW) * Point Roberts Skate Park (Central - recreational open space) * Lily Point Marine Reserve (SE) * Cascadia Marine Trail (S and E)

Neighborhoods

* South Beach Estates (beach rights) * Bells Grove * Crystal Waters * Freeman Beach * Lily Point * Maple Beach * Waters Plat * Ocean View Estates * Seabright Farm Cottages * Cedar Heights

Climate

Despite its proximity to 49 °N latitude, Point Roberts has an

Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Cfb''); however, winters may be colder for this climatic subtype, similar to the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

axis. Point Roberts lies within a depression created by

, the north shore mountains surrounding

, and the North Cascades (including

Mount Baker Mount Baker (; ), also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States. Mount Baker has the second-most ...

). This

micro-climate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square meters or smaller (for ...

provides some of the mildest weather in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. With annual precipitation of about , Point Roberts enjoys more sunny days and a milder climate than its neighbors. While 49 °N latitude suggests a harsh winter,

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

averages and low January temperatures are milder than the American average: in vs and vs , respectively. Although the amount of rainfall is less than the regional average, it is better-distributed through the year , with 146 days of precipitation. The comfort index is high.

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 1,314 people, 678 households, and 372 families residing in the Point Roberts ZCTA (ZIP Code Tabulation Area). There were 2,068 housing units, only 678 (33%) of which were occupied. The racial makeup of the ZCTA was 91.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.8%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.8% Native American, 4.5% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 2.4% of the population. The age distribution was 16.2% under 20, 3.0% from 20 to 24, 16.2% from 25 to 44, 40.7% from 45 to 64, and 23.9% who were 65 or older. The median age was 52.7 years. The median income for a household in the ZCTA was

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

58,672; the median income for a family was $75,724; and the

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

was $39,696. During the summer the population swells to about 4,500, most of the visitors being vacationing Canadians. Point Roberts' population includes descendants of

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic immigrants, who first settled there in the 1890s.

Economy

Many of the area's businesses serve weekend and recreational visitors from

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term ''Greater Vancouver'' describes an area that is roughly coterminous with the r ...

. Canadians visit for cheaper American gasoline, alcohol, and food when the

Canadian Dollar The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; ) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $. There is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviations Can$, CA$ and C$ are frequently used f ...

is strong; Americans from Point Roberts seek goods which are cheaper in Canada. Many Canadians visited its bars and nightclubs on Sundays, until Sunday drinking was legalized in British Columbia in 1986. The local post office and several private companies rent many

post office box A post office box (commonly abbreviated as P.O. box, or also known as a postal box) is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office. In some regions, particularly in Africa, there is no door-to-door delivery ...

es to individuals and businesses from the Greater Vancouver area, who find it a convenient and fast way to receive mail and parcels from the United States without paying for cross-border shipping costs, or as a delivery point for online purchases when American sellers do not ship outside the U.S. The U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver also used the Point Roberts post office, but it has since changed to using one in

Blaine, Washington Blaine is a city in Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The city's northern boundary is the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. border; the Peace Arch international monument straddl ...

, on the contiguous border. Because entry to Point Roberts from the rest of the U.S. requires two international border crossings, it has sometimes been described as "the best gated community in the U.S." Residents enjoy a low crime rate, with a high local security presence.''

National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'', August 2004. Popular folklore describes the town as a popular resettlement site for the US Federal Witness Protection Program, assisting informants who testify against criminals to relocate under new identities for their protection. While there is one doctor's clinic, there is no hospital, dentist, pharmacist or veterinarian. Point Roberts residents usually seek medical care in

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

, although Vancouver is closer, because American health insurers will not pay for treatment from Canadian providers. Point Roberts has a single grocery store, which threatened to close in July 2021 due to the prolonged travel restrictions due to the

. An emergency grant of US$100,000 from the state government was approved in late June to prevent its closure. After US president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in 2025 introduced a 25% tariff on Canadian goods and was suggesting that Canada should become a US state, Canadians who objected boycotted US things; this led to a 30% drop in Canadian visitors to Point Roberts, causing some businesses to close and others to relocate to Canada, a situation said to be worse than during the pandemic. Local people were concerned that Point Roberts as they know it could cease to exist if the government did not help.

Education

The community is served by the Blaine School District. Point Roberts Primary School, the sole school in the exclave, is part of the Blaine School District and provides teaching for kindergarten as well as first through third grades. It is classified as a remote and necessary school by the state government and is the smallest school in Whatcom County, with approximately 15 students and one full-time teacher. The three-room schoolhouse opened in 1993 and began offering third grade lessons in 1999. From 4th grade onward, American children must take a 40-minute ride through British Columbia, crossing back into the United States at

. Canadian children can attend school in

Delta, British Columbia Delta is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and part of Greater Vancouver. Located on the Fraser Lowland south of Fraser River's south distributary, arm, it is bordered by the city of Richmond, British Columbia, R ...

Infrastructure

Transportation

The only authorized land access to Canada from Point Roberts is Point Roberts-Boundary Bay Border Crossing, the westernmost in the

Lower 48 The contiguous United States, also known as the U.S. mainland, officially referred to as the conterminous United States, consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States in central North America. The ter ...

. On the US side, this major thoroughfare northward is named Tyee Drive; on the Canadian side, it is 56th Street. Point Roberts also has a small airport ( Point Roberts Airpark) and a large

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

(Point Roberts Marina Resort) for air and water access; these two point facilities allow direct access to the rest of Washington state without the need to enter Canada. A temporary passenger ferry service from Point Roberts to Blaine operated by the Port of Bellingham and the

Whatcom Transportation Authority The Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) is the public transit authority of Whatcom County in northwestern Washington, based in the city of Bellingham. It provides bus service on 30 fixed routes, including four branded "GO Lines" with 15-minu ...

entered service in August 2020 amid the

, which had caused the Canadian border to be closed to non-essential travel for several months. The ferry used two vessels leased from San Juan Cruises and was fare-free. It was initially run once per week, but the frequency was increased to twice a week and the ferry was diverted to serve the Bellingham Cruise Terminal due to high demand. Ferry service ended in August 2021 as the border were reopening to nonessential travel. Roosevelt Road follows the US side of the border across the peninsula. To the west, it ends at a small park, Monument Park built around ''Monument 1'', the westernmost point of the 49th parallel border.

Telecommunications

Until 1988, Point Roberts telephone numbers were in

area code 604 Area code 604 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan for the southwestern corner of British Columbia, Canada. The numbering plan area comprises Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast (British Columbia), Sunshine Coast, Howe S ...

and served by BCTel, the local telephone company for most of British Columbia. It was served by the 945 exchange which was officially in

area code 206 Area code 206 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of Washington. The numbering plan area (NPA) includes Seattle and most of its innermost suburbs. This includes such suburbs as Shoreline and La ...

, the area code for most of western Washington, but protected in 604, resulting in the oddity of calls from British Columbia being local calls while calls from Washington and the rest of the United States were billed as international calls. In 1988, Point Roberts service was severed from BC Tel, and the protection of the 604-945 prefix ended, at the expense of losing the ability to make local calls to any other exchange in either country. Along with the rest of Whatcom County, Point Roberts moved to

area code 360 Area code 360 is a telephone area code in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the part of Washington state outside metropolitan Seattle and west of the Cascade Mountains. The numbering plan area (NPA) serves all of western Washington out ...

in 1995. The local regular-service telecom provider is

Whidbey Telecom Whidbey Telecom (legally Whidbey Telephone Company and often called Whidbey Tel) is a private, independent telecommunications company operating on Whidbey Island in Washington State, the community of Point Roberts, Washington, and its affiliat ...

. Although Point Roberts is nominally part of the

television market, the only over-the-air stations available in the town come from the Metro Vancouver region and Bellingham, Washington. Cable television in Point Roberts was provided by Delta Cable, a subsidiary of Canadian cable company EastLink. Delta Cable pulled out of Point Roberts with short notice in August 2019. Whidbey Telecom is the broadband Internet provider to residents of Point Roberts. In 2019, Whidbey Telecom began construction to provide

fiber-optic Internet Fiber-optic communication is a form of optical communication for data communication, transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of infrared or visible light through an optical fiber. The light is a form of carrier wav ...

to Point Roberts. Mobile telephone service is provided by a variety of companies, both American and Canadian.

Notable people

Current *

Glen Hanlon Glen A. Hanlon (born February 20, 1957) is a Canadian ice hockey coach, executive and former goaltender. Hanlon played in the National Hockey League for the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings. He is al ...

, former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

goaltender and former ice hockey coach * Michael S. McLean, Emmy award winner and former Hollywood director, editor and producer Past *

Pavel Bure Pavel Vladimirovich Bure (, ; born 31 March 1971) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player who played the Winger (ice hockey), right wing position. Nicknamed "the Russian Rocket" for his speed, Bure played for 12 seasons in the Nationa ...

, former National Hockey League forward *

Ross Douglas Ross Douglas (February 22, 1951 – March 20, 2023) was a Canadian voice actor and musician with Ocean Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was most well-known for voicing Jean Bison in the ''Sly Cooper'' series, Daniel O'Connell in '' Mas ...

, songwriter, musician and actor * Roger Fisher and Nancy Wilson, of rock band

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

Margaret Laurence Jean Margaret Laurence (née Wemyss; July 18, 1926 – January 5, 1987) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-pr ...

, Canadian novelist and short story writer *

Kekuta Manneh Kekuta Manneh (born 30 December 1994) is a professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. In 2016, he obtained his American citizenship and has previously been called up to the United States national t ...

, Gambian-born soccer player, formerly of

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

Alexander Mogilny Alexander Gennadevich Mogilny (; born 18 February 1969) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player and the current president of Amur Khabarovsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was the first National Hockey League (NHL) drafte ...

, former National Hockey League forward *

Dave Nonis David M. Nonis (born May 25, 1966) is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman and is currently an assistant general manager and senior VP of hockey operations for the Calgary Flames. Playing career Growing up in Burnaby, B.C., Nonis played juni ...

, National Hockey League

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

Bob Robertson Robert Eugene Robertson (born October 2, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman between and , most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams that won five Nation ...

, longtime Northwest sportscaster *

Katee Sackhoff Katee Sackhoff (born April 8, 1980) is an American actress known for being Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on ''Battlestar Galactica'' (2004–2009), Niko Breckenridge on '' Another Life'' (2019–2021), Victoria "Vic" Moretti on '' Longmire' ...

, actress; lived in Point Roberts during filming the TV series ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. It began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series, '' Galactica 1980'', a line of book adaptat ...

'' *

John Tortorella John Tortorella (born June 24, 1958) is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player. He most recently served as head coach for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Tortorella has also been the head coach of ...

, coach of the Philadelphia Flyers

References

Notes Further reading * Clark, Richard E. (1980). ''Point Roberts, USA: The History of a Canadian Enclave''. Textype Publishing. * Murray, Anne (2006)
''A Nature Guide to Your Boundary Bay''
Nature Guides B.C., Delta
Point Roberts Census County Division, Whatcom County, Washington
United States Census Bureau. * Swenson, Mark (2017). ''Point Roberts Backstory: Tales, Trails and Trivia from an American Exclave''. Village Books. ().

External links

Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce
* Geologic Map fro
Washington State Department of Natural Resources
* Zoning Map fro
Whatcom County
{{Authority control Census-designated places in Whatcom County, Washington Exclaves in the United States Border irregularities of the United States Peninsulas of Washington (state) Borders of Washington (state) Landforms of Whatcom County, Washington Cities in Whatcom County, Washington Delta, British Columbia