Point Roberts, Washington

Have I mentioned before that I love maps? My father had his engineering degree when he was either drafted, or enlisted (funny, I never knew which) and was placed in the Army Corps of Engineers during WW II. He was assigned to a cartography unit, where, guess what, they made maps.

In his case he was eventually assigned to a base in Guam where they turned reconnaissance photos of Japan into maps to guide bombers.

As a kid, there was a large jigsaw puzzle map of the United States (then only 48 of those) on my bedroom wall. By when I don't know, but I knew every state and every state capital, and the shape of every state by a very early age.

With President Trump in his 2nd non-consecutive term of office, The New York Times makes every effort they can to report bad effects from Trump being president, whether it be from invoking tariffs, executive orders, deficit legislation, the paper is there to paint a bleak picture.

An example of this zeal is to send a senior reporter, Ken Belson, and a photographer, Ruth Fremson, to Point Roberts, Washington to give us what is really an interesting article on many counts, that was headlined on June 15, 2025:  How a Tiny Community Got Caught Up in Trump's Attacks on Canada.

Point Roberts is a 5 square mile piece of land that juts out from Canada's British Columbia, Vancouver area that sits below the 49th parallel. So what you might say? Well, it is the 49th Parallel declared in the Oregon Treaty in 1846 between the U.S. and Britain, that places above it are in Canada; below, the good old U.S. of A. All across the top of the United States, the 49th parallel separates U.S. states from Canadian provinces.

So why is Point Roberts part of the Unite States? Well, it is below the 49th parallel, and despite only being 5 square miles, that on a road map of Washington looks no bigger than raisins I've eaten, this peninsula can only be reached by water, or by going through customs between the U.S. and Canada. Talk about being boxed in!

The dual location of Point Roberts formed the basis for a clue in a recent "Jeopardy Masters" competition. "What parallel is Point Roberts beneath?" I think it was Yogesh Raut, the eventual winner, who buzzed in quickest with the correct answer.

Look closely at the above map. I purposely got a road map of the state of Washington, not because I'll ever be driving there, but because I wanted to see Point Roberts in the context of its surroundings. It is small.

Look at the line just above it. That's the 49th Parallel and it extends out to the water, but then makes a sharp downward drop. Why?

Well, when you've got the whole area map in front you, you see that the 49th Parallel gets bent and goes around large Vancouver Island. If this were an electoral map, this would be Gerrymandering.

The article and the photos are a gem, best enjoyed online because you can see more photos. It seems since President Trump started throwing tariff talk around and calling Canada the 51st state, there are many Canadians who are pissed at all that.

Canadians own 70 of the Point Roberts land and for years have been crossing the border to the U.S. to get cheaper gas and groceries. It's as if  Point Roberts were a PX.

The president's outbursts have made Canadians so inflamed that they are boycotting American goods.  The stores in Point Roberts do not have to stock as much inventory because the Canadians are not crossing the border.

Imagine having to go through customs to go in and out of a 5 square mile peninsula. It's would ne like needing to show a passport to go to Coney Island, the Rockaways, or Fire Island.

Point Roberts, Washington can remind you of Derby Line, Vermont and the library that literally straddles the border. Some of the books are in Canada; some are in the U.S. 

There have been a few stories about Derby Line through the years. My wife and I were once there  there visiting a friend, but not the library. We crossed the border into Canada to go a hockey game my friend played in, and returned. In those days, you didn't need a passport to go in or out of Canada.

Now, to use the library you do need to have a passport. It was built in 1901, and the wealthy widow who endowed the money wanted the building to be used by people on both sides of the border. So, the building is on both sides of the border.

To use a word I hear often used by screenwriters in various shows these days: It's complicated.

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