Washington PICTURE THREAD (Vancouver, Bellingham: compensation, map of, party)

[cjg5]

The islands are most certainly a MUST SEE. I have been several times to Orcas and San Juan. Haven't been to Lopez yet, except for one time when I was stranded at the ferry terminal there for a couple of hours (loooong story, and a lot of inconvenienced ferry riders that day!).

Somewhere in this thread I have pictures from Moran State Park.

[Fairwinds]

[kanhawk]

The isolated and little visited enclave of Point Roberts, WA. By car, you can only get here by driving into Canada for about 25 miles before crossing the border again to this little peninsula south of Vancouver, BC.

Lily Point park


IMG_2357 by kanhawk, on Flickr

IMG_2354 by kanhawk, on Flickr

IMG_2352 by kanhawk, on Flickr

Lighthouse Marine park


IMG_2367 by kanhawk, on Flickr


IMG_2369_1 by kanhawk, on Flickr

IMG_2365_1 by kanhawk, on Flickr

[kanhawk]

The US/Canada border is pretty lax at Point Roberts.

Monument Park, erected in 1861. The Monument is in the US. The building to the right behind the shrubbery is in Canada.

IMG_2375 by kanhawk, on Flickr


Looking into a Canadian neighborhood through a hole in the shrubbery from the US side


IMG_2372_1 by kanhawk, on Flickr

Standing on a beach in the US. Canada is about 10 feet away.


IMG_2373_1 by kanhawk, on Flickr

[Spewed]

Great pictures, Kanhawk! Been waiting for some new pictures to pop up around here.

[Botev1912]

Why is this place part of the US and not Canada? It's very weird when looking at it on the map

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Point...ngton&t=m&z=12

[PollyGlott]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

Why is this place part of the US and not Canada? It's very weird when looking at it on the map
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Point...ngton&t=m&z=12

Simply because it lies below the 49th parallel, the line of demarcation between Canada and the U.S.

[Botev1912]

Victoria is even further south, but it's not part of the US.

[PollyGlott]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

Victoria is even further south, but it's not part of the US.

Here's the explanation that I found:
"After the Oregon Treaty of 1846, the western part of America’s northern border was fixed to run from the top of the Rockies to a point in the sea halfway between the mainland and Vancouver Island (thus avoiding the international border’s slicing off the island’s southern tip)."

[cjg5]

If I remember correctly, that had something to do with Fort Victoria having already been established as a regional capitol for the British side, and thus the entire island was given to them (since Victoria is located near its southernmost shore). Point Roberts was an oversight that nobody bothered to worry about enough to fix it, and thus it became US territory.

Thanks for the pictures, Kanhawk! I haven't been to Point Roberts in about 15 years, but would love to go back. So much family history up there for me. Last visit was for my great-grandfather's funeral.