North Sound · WA
Point Roberts
A US exclave you can only drive to through Canada.
- Population
- 1,191 (2020 census)
- Area
- 4.9 square miles
- Oregon Treaty
- 1846
Then
- 1792
George Vancouver names the point for his friend Henry Roberts.
- 1846
The Oregon Treaty sets the border at the 49th parallel, stranding the tip of the peninsula in the US.
- 1858
Fraser gold rush prospectors build "Robert's Town." It lasts less than a year.
- 2020
Canada's pandemic border closure costs the town about 80 percent of its business, until August 2021.
Now
Point Roberts swells to about 4,500 people in summer. The only road in runs through Canada.