When the United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Washington in 1846, establishing the international boundary on the 49th parallel, they created Point Roberts as an exclave, a piece of U.S. territory requiring land travel though another country, in this case, Canada. Point Roberts wasn't an accident; there were maps of the area available. Its strategic location was desirable to the United States, which made Point Roberts a military reservation in 1857.
In April 1861, the heads of the American and British boundary commission agreed a 20-foot stone obelisk should be placed in Point Roberts to mark the western terminus of the U.S. - Canada boundary. As this notable spot is, they wrote, "undoubtedly the most prominent point it is quite consistent that the most prominent beacon should be placed upon it."
With both countries agreeing to split the cost, the monument was made in New Westminster, British Columbia by E. Brown. Its forty tons are made of solid cut granite, each block weighing between one and two-and-a-half tons. The shaft of the obelisk is made of stone imported from Scotland and floated around Cape Horn. In 1862, the monument's blocks were transported by a British gunboat to the beach below this park, where they were hauled up the cliff using Coast Salish labor on specially built tracks. At one point when it was part way up the bluff it fell back down to the beach. The undamaged obelisk was put together with the help of Alfred Williams, stonemason, whose descendants still live at Points Roberts. Ten feet of Canadian land on the north side of the obelisk was donated by the homeowner in 1958. Had this donation not occured, the current residential lot would go right up to the monument, preventing the ability to walk around it.
Today, the obelisk is owned and maintained by the International Boundary Commission. It is the centerpiece of Monument Park, whose eight acres opened in 1964. The 950-foot trail to the beach opened in 2009.
Logging requirements for this virtual:
1) Post a photo of you or your caching group with the monument in the background. (Have fun with this and be creative!) If you are camera shy and don't like selfies post a photo that clearly shows your caching name with the monument in the background.
2) Check out the information on "A History of Smuggling" on a nearby information board and message me the answers to the following questions: (Do not post the answers with your found log)
This spot on the border was home to one of this peninsula's more notable personalities. What is this persons name?
What was the "cabaret" also known as?
What is the date of the aerial photo that shows how undeveloped Tsawwassen was?
Found logs without the required information will be deleted.
Note: This Boundary Marker is located in Point Roberts, Washington State and cannot be accessed from the Canadian side of the border!
Congratulations to MrGigabyte on being the first to log/find this virtual.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.