Sam Hill dedicates his Peace Arch at Blaine on September 6, 1921.

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On September 6, 1921, businessman and philanthropist Sam Hill (1857-1931) dedicates his Peace Arch on the boundary between the U.S. and Canada at Blaine. The 67-foot-high structure with two flagstaffs acknowledges a century of peace between the two countries and the longest undefended border in the world.

Sam Hill moved to Seattle in the late 1890s after making money as an executive with the Great Northern Railway. A man of seemingly unlimited energy and ambition, he devoted his life to business, civic affairs, philanthropy, and particularly, good roads. Hill credited the idea for a monument to peace to A. E. Todd, president of the Pacific Highway Association, who worked with Hill to promote construction of a Pacific Highway from Vancouver, B.C. to Tijuana, Mexico.

In July 1920, work began on the concrete structure made with 800 yards of concrete along with 50 tons of steel. The arch featured bronze gates permanently held open. On one gate was inscribed, "1814 -- Open 100 years -- 1914." The other gate reads, "May These Gates Never Be Closed." On the U.S. side of the arch is emblazoned, "Children of a Common Mother," and on the Canadian side, "Bretheren Dwelling Together In Unity" (Tuhy, 188).

When the arch was dedicated, Sam Hill placed inside it a piece of wood from the steamship Beaver, a Hudson's Bay Company vessel that was the first steamship to ply the waters of Puget Sound. Along with the piece of the Beaver he placed a piece of the Mayflower. (These fragments were removed to be preserved elsewhere in 1989.)

For Hill, the placement of the monument was something of a gamble since the location of his long-sought-after Pacific Highway had yet to be set. In 1929, Canada and the State of Washington agreed to place the highway and the port of entry near the monument.

In 1931, 26 acres on the U.S. side became a state park and 23 acres on the Canadian side became a provincial park, established in part with donations from school children.

Sources:
John E. Tuhy, Sam Hill: The Prince of Castle Nowhere (Portland: Timber Press, 1983), 187-190; D Parvaz, "Blaine Border Crossing to Be Closed for Arch Celebration," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 7, 2002 (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/); "Peace Arch Anniversary Celebration," Northern Light, September 6-12, 2001 (http://www.thenorthernlight.com/archives/2001/sept06_12_2001/inside6.html).
Note: This essay was updated on July 2, 2008.

By David Wilma, February 16, 2003

This file made possible by:
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)

Peace Arch, Canadian side, looking south to Blaine,1925
Courtesy UW Special Collections (Neg. WAS0704)

Peace Arch (1921), Blaine, 1960s
Postcard

Peace Arch from United States side, Blaine, August 2, 2008
HistoryLink.org Photo by Phil Dougherty