The Odd Existence of Point Roberts, Washington

Life in a piece of America tacked on the tip of Canada. 

The town sits about 20 miles directly south of Vancouver, on a little peninsular tip of land, jutting just below the 49th parallel. That's the line, as you probably know, that generally demarcates the separation between Canada and the United States, at least from the middle of Minnesota westward. This borderline cuts between Blaine, Washington, and White Rock, British Columbia, the two counterpoint cities of this west coast end of the U.S.-Canada border. But through the waters of Boundary Bay, the line keeps heading west, true along the 49th and directly through the peninsula at this tip of British Columbia. To the south of the line sits Point Roberts, a 5-square mile fingernail of B.C. that is actually part of the United States. 

Resident Kathryn Booth says the border tends to dominate outsiders’ perception of the town. As the operator of pointrobertstourism.com, she’s the self-appointed public relations face of Point Roberts, and she’s heard her share of incredulous visitors since moving here in 2009. “They’ll say ’Oh my god, how do people live here? It’s like a police state.’ And in some ways it kind of feels that way.” 

“On the one hand, it’s been rated the safest community because it’s like having a really, really, really strict security guard gate,” Booth says. 

Point Roberts is also a good place to get away – or to hide out. Thanks to Canada’s fairly strict border crossing rules, it’s difficult for people with criminal records to cross over, so even ex-felons who can move freely about in the U.S. wouldn’t easily be able to find their way into Point Roberts. This is part of the reason the town is, unofficially, home to about 50 people in the U.S. Marshals Service’s Witness Security Program, or Witness Protection. Other residents have come here seeking their own protection.

DYI Comment:  This is on my bucket list of places to go and see.

DYI