Plenty of research and forethought goes into each of our upcoming destinations, but our planner also performs last-minute scouting as we travel to ensure we don’t miss something truly interesting a block over while zipping along at 60 mph. In that regard, a funny thing happened in ND. Something like, h-e-y… how about this town claiming to be the “Geographical Center of North America?” Our curiosity piqued, we added a quick photo-op stop in Rugby, ND to our route.
Here’s where things get somewhat comical.
Note: To give credit where credit is due, the italicized excerpts below are from a 2021 CBS News article, “The debate over the Geographical Center of North America.”
North Dakota is not only one of the least-visited states, it’s also one of the last on a tourist’s bucket list... even the geese just fly right over. And yet, poor, left-out North Dakota may actually be the center of our world.
“… if you can say, ‘I live at the Geographical Center of North America,’ that’s pretty cool!” said Cathy Jelsing… whose job with the Historical Society included pointing wayward tourists to the spot where, since 1931, a stone monument has marked the area claimed to be the Geographical Center of North America.
So, how was it determined that Rugby, ND was the continental bull’s eye? (Get ready for it. This is highly scientific.)
In 1928, an employee with the U.S. Geological Survey took a cardboard cutout of the map of North America with a pin stuck through it and balanced it on his finger. Not the most sophisticated method, perhaps, but for decades few argued with it.
And the town of Rugby it seems embraced it, as it gave them a sense of place.
“You have to understand that here in North Dakota, we don’t have that much,” said Clay Jenkinson, a humanities scholar and North Dakota native. “We don’t have Carnegie Hall. We don’t have the Statue of Liberty. So, this mattered to Rugby. It’s their Grand Canyon. It’s their Teton Mountains. It’s true! This is it!“
Jenkinson blissfully never questioned Rugby’s title, until he learned of Hanson’s Bar, and its owner (Bill Bender), who claimed the center of the continent was actually about a hundred miles south, in the town of Robinson.
Jenkinson was offended, thinking, “Who is this jerk? Why mess with this little town’s one pathetic claim to cosmic fame?'”
The owner of Hanson’s Bar claimed he meant no harm. …it was a simple trivia question that he and a few buddies called into question... admitting that their calculations required “‘lots of trial and error.‘”
One night, armed with a globe, some string, and more than a few beers, they made the case that the continent’s center was – perhaps not so coincidentally – right beneath the bar itself. (Imagine that.)
Bender said, “...what we did late at night seems far more scientific than a child cutting out a cutout and balancing it!“
Straightaway, Bender checked to see if Rugby had trademarked their precious phrase “Geographical Center,” and they had, but they’d let it lapse. 😦 So, Bender quickly registered everything and paid the $300 to take the phrase. At that point, per the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Hanson’s Bar in Robinson ND became the “Geographical Center of North America.”
Can’t make this stuff up! So, we added another photo-op stop to our route.
Per Jelsing back in Rugby, “It wasn’t very nice what they did. If we lost the Geographical Center, what would we be? … just another town in the middle of nowhere.”
Word of the midpoint meltdown soon got around, and Peter Rogerson, a professor in the Geography Department at the University at Buffalo, decided he’d give it a crack.
Rogerson used latitudes and longitudes and, taking the curvature of the earth into account, plugged the continental coordinates into a special algorithm he’d designed to find the true center. The program ran through the numbers and, to his surprise, determined the spot was, indeed, in North Dakota, but this time the center – believe it or not – was near a town actually named Center (pop. ~570).
Again, you can’t make this stuff up!
Two men born and raised in Center (so named because it’s the center of the county), decided they should celebrate the newfound fame just like the other towns had. Finding an ideal site for a marker up on a hill “where you can see forever,” and being fairly confident that this will be the permanent site, they called the coal mine to request “a pretty rock” to mark the spot. Two weeks later, the coal mine lady called to say she’d found them “thirty-thousand pounds of permanence.”
You know it; another photo-op stop. We’d become fairly committed to being centered.
As for Hanson’s Bar in Robinson? …Bill Bender backed down and gave the Geographical Center trademark back to Rugby, although he’s still not removing the decal on the floor.
Asked, “What do you think this controversy says about North Dakota,” Clay Jenkinson replied, “It says we’re a loser state! I mean, it’s in the same zone as the World’s Largest Ball of Twine, what we’re talking about here. This is about something of no consequence, really, that sort of has a level of absurdity right at the center of it. And if it helps North Dakota, even in a puny little way, I’m for it!”
His advice: Chase after the centers while you can. Continents do wander, after all!
The Olsens, having covered an additional 100 miles in search of center, decided we could take our successfully focused, relaxed selves and move on. See you later, North Dakota!
As for our flashforward, how about this? Football has centers, right? Ha!
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