Most of Point Roberts was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listing is the Boundary Marker No. 1. Below: 12 old photos and papers and maps from 1952 on.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1897.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Point Roberts’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Point Roberts is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Point Roberts’ overall grade.
Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Point Roberts’ 7.8 sits above most of its state (81% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1846.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.8 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Point Roberts’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The area around the southern Tsawwassen Peninsula was a favored fishing spot for several Coast Salish groups. The first Europeans to see Point Roberts were members of the 1791 expedition of Francisco de Eliza. The maps produced from Eliza's explorations depicted Point Roberts as "Isla de Cepeda" or "Isla de Zepeda." In 1792, the British expedition of George Vancouver and the Spanish expedition of Dionisio Alcalá Galiano encountered one another near Point Roberts. In the morning of June 13, 1792, the two ships under Galiano sailed into Boundary Bay and verified Point Roberts was not an island, which was thus renamed Punta Cepeda. They then sailed around Point Roberts and immediately encountered HMS Chatham, the second ship of Vancouver's expedition. The two parties made contact and agreed to share information and work together in mapping the Strait of Georgia.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Point Roberts. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1952Point Roberts sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Point Roberts.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewBoundary monument at Point Roberts - Treaty of Washington June 15th 1846, 1861
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Point Roberts’ page.
In 1846, according to Wikidata. Point Roberts’ post office opened in 1897.
How does Point Roberts rank for history?
Point Roberts is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Point Roberts?
One place: the Boundary Marker No. 1 (listed 1975).
How old are the homes in Point Roberts?
5% of Point Roberts’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1980.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1861
1861
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1861
1888
1899
1899
1907
1918
c. 1918
1994
1998
