The Most Isolated Town In The United States

By | March 14, 2019

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Canadian tourists enjoying sunset at Point Roberts beach in this photo from 1959. Source: (Photo by Carl Mydans/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Where is the most isolated town in the United States? No, it is not in the Alaskan tundra or on the desolate plains of North Dakota or alone on a tiny island near Hawaii. The most isolated town in the United States is in Washington. An oversight when the U.S. and the U.K. established the border between the United States and Canada left the southern tip of a Canadian peninsula dangling in U.S. territory. You cannot drive to this town, Point Roberts, Washington, from the U.S. without crossing two international borders! Let’s look at what life is like in Point Roberts, Washington, the most isolated town in the United States. 

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Source: (trivialtraveler.com)

How Did Point Roberts Become Cut Off From the Rest of the U.S.?

The United States and the United Kingdom agreed to use the 49th parallel as the boundary line between the U.S. and Canada. It seemed like a convenient and easy decision, except for one thing. The 49th parallel cuts through a peninsula of land south of Vancouver, British Columbia, called the Tsawwassen Peninsula. Since everything north of the 49th parallel went to Canada, then everything south of it went to the United States. This left Point Roberts, a five-mile plot of land at the tip of the peninsula, surrounded by Boundary Bay, dipping into in U.S. territory while the rest of the peninsula…and all the roads leading to Point Roberts…in Canada.