Peace Arch Park: An Integrated Binational Protected Landscape in British Columbia and Washington

Peace Arch Park has a layered history that blends early cross-border infrastructure, a monument-building campaign rooted in the railway era, and a long evolution of formal protection on both sides of the border. Border inspection activity at what is now the Peace Arch Border Crossing long predates the construction of the Peace Arch itself, with the crossing already functioning as a significant point of entry between Washington and British Columbia.

In 1914, Samuel Hill, a lawyer for the Great Northern Railway, organized an international fundraising campaign to build a peace monument on the boundary line. Architect Harvey Wiley Corbett contributed the design, and construction began in 1920, largely through international volunteer efforts. The monument was dedicated on September 6, 1921, commemorating the 1814 Treaty of Ghent and the Rush-Bagot agreement that together ended the War of 1812 and laid the groundwork for the modern unguarded Canada–United States border.

The park's formal creation followed over the next two decades. The American portion of the park was established as a state park in 1931, while the Canadian portion was established as a provincial park on November 7, 1939. The Peace Arch was recognized on the Canadian Register of Historic Places in 1939 and, much later, was placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

The park has also served as a stage for major public moments. In 1952, singer and activist Paul Robeson, effectively barred from international travel during the Red Scares, performed at the site for Canadian audiences from the American side. The monument was vandalized during Vietnam War protests on May 9, 1970, over the Cambodian campaign. More recently, the park was a symbolic stop on the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Torch Relay and became an unexpected venue for cross-border family meetings and weddings during the COVID-19 pandemic era, including an unusually high concentration of weddings in 2020 and 2021.

Although Peace Arch Park is primarily a heritage and commemorative park rather than a wilderness preserve, it carries meaningful recognition on both sides of the border. On the Canadian side, the park is administered by BC Parks as a provincial park, while on the American side it is managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission as a state park. Together, these designations protect an open, publicly accessible green space in one of the most heavily trafficked border corridors in North America.

The park's conservation significance also lies in the protection of the Peace Arch monument and its surrounding landscape. The monument itself has been placed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places and the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, giving the park an official role in preserving one of the earliest earthquake-resistant structures in North America and an internationally recognized symbol of bilateral peace. By holding the grounds around the monument in protected status, the park ensures the long-term integrity of a site where two national jurisdictions meet in a single shared landscape.

Peace Arch Park reflects the cultural identity of the Canada–United States border more clearly than almost any other site in the region. It is a place where visitors and residents from both countries can meet without crossing customs, and that quality has shaped its function as a venue for shared ceremonies, music, political protest, and family reunions. The arch's bilingual inscriptions, including the U.S. phrase "Children of a common mother" and the Canadian phrase "Brethren dwelling together in unity," anchor the park's symbolic meaning as a site of shared heritage and longstanding peaceful relations.

The park also has an active nonprofit cultural partner, the International Peace Arch Association, which hosts events and exhibitions including an annual International Sculpture Exhibition that highlights work by American and Canadian artists. The park's recent history reinforces its role as a meeting place across national lines. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when the wider border was closed to non-essential travel, the park became one of the most-reported locations for border weddings, with both partners able to meet in the same space rather than across a barrier, a reflection of how the park's openness has been used, in difficult times, to maintain personal and familial connections across the border.

Peace Arch Park's standout qualities begin with the Peace Arch itself, a 20.5-meter monument straddling the boundary line and serving as one of the most enduring symbols of U.S.–Canadian peace. The monument's dedication in 1921 and its later listing on both the Canadian and U.S. historic registers give the park a layered heritage profile that few border parks can match.

Equally distinctive is the park's function as a single continuous green space shared by two countries. Visitors can walk across the international boundary within the park without passing through customs, allowing the grounds to host cross-border gatherings, weddings, and ceremonies that rely on the site as a shared meeting ground. The combination of symbolic architecture, transboundary management, and active cultural programming makes the park a notable model of how a protected landscape can also function as a living place of international connection.

As a year-round urban-edge park in the mild coastal climate of the Pacific Northwest, Peace Arch Park is open across the seasons, with usable green space through much of the year. Late spring through early fall tends to bring the most comfortable conditions for outdoor picnics, walking the grounds, and viewing floral displays in the landscaped beds around the monument, when warmer weather and longer daylight encourage visitors to linger.

Winter and shoulder seasons still allow for quieter visits and a more reflective atmosphere around the monument. Visitors interested in seeing the arch during major symbolic moments may want to align travel with commemorative events, while those seeking a calm, low-density experience may prefer the cooler months when visitor numbers tend to ease. In all cases, the park's compact size and pedestrian-friendly layout make short visits feasible regardless of season.