The Point Roberts - Boundary Bay Border Crossing connects the communities of Point Roberts, Washington and Tsawwassen, British Columbia When the border between the United States and Canada was established as the 49th parallel it cut straight through the southern tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula. This created a chunk of U.S. territory that cannot be reached by land from the U.S. It is one of only four locations in the contiguous United States not directly connected to the lower 48, the others being Elm Point, Minnesota, Angle Inlet, Minnesota, and the town of Alburgh, Vermont. Under different circumstances, the isolated 1200-hectare U.S. peninsula of Point Roberts would have been an overlooked corner of the sprawl surrounding Greater Vancouver. But the 1,300-person community owes its strange existence to the 1846 Oregon Treaty, which divided the Pacific Northwest along the 49th parallel — unwittingly sealing off a small enclave of U.S. land. British colonial authorities offered a more accessible plot of territory in exchange, but their entreaties were stubbornly ignored. Lucky thing, too, because in only 40 years, some settlers over the border would lay the foundations for Canada’s third-largest city. Today, Point Roberts relies heavily on offering a miniature U.S. to its 2.5 million next-door neighbours. The community’s five gas stations abound with B.C. licence plates filling up with fuel at 10¢ to 30¢ less per litre than in Canada. A liquor store sells cut-rate spirits and obscure U.S. beers. Small grocery retailers sell low-priced dairy products. Point Roberts restaurants also serve up medium-rare burgers, a delicacy so scorned by B.C. health codes that it is virtually non-existent in Vancouver. Canadian online shoppers have their packages delivered to one of several Point Roberts businesses, and then pick them up in person in order to dodge steep Canadian shipping surcharges. Package holders are usually waved through by border security without paying duty or GST paperwork. “They’re so busy that if they pulled everybody in they’d have lineups like you wouldn’t believe,” said Daryl Marquette with TSB Shipping Plus, a Point Roberts parcel receiver with 42,000 Canadian customers in its database.