Have you ever wondered where the center of the US is? This seemingly straightforward question is much more complex than you might assume; it has been bewildering me for a while now.
Thankfully, most of the difficult calculations and surveying has already been completed for us. The US government, through the US Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) that was later reorganized as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), already set out to find the nation’s center.
Surprisingly, the United States can have multiple centers, depending on the specific definition of “center of the US,” in fact, I can list five centers! I will be excluding the territories in this post for simplicity.
Meades Ranch, Kansas (39º13’27”N, 98º32’32”W)
The very first time that the USC&GS sought to find the nation’s center was in 1891; Meades Ranch was arbitrarily chosen because it simply appeared to be centrally located.
Finding the exact center of the nation was an extremely difficult task; the ever expanding borders continuously posed new complexities, and the irregularly, almost immeasurably curved nature of the coasts alone rendered the mathematical equations nearly unsolvable. Essentially, this was as accurate as they could be at the time.
Lebanon, Kansas (39º49’42”N, 98º34’46”W)
In 1918, after realizing the need for a more accurate method to find America’s center, they developed a new one by cutting out the precise shape of the United States in cardboard and balancing the cutout on a singular point, revealing the center of gravity which could reasonably be assumed as the true center of the US.
Belle Fourche, South Dakota (44º58’2”N, 103º46’18”W)
With the admission of Alaska and Hawaii, the balance method was redone, placing the two new states at proportionally accurate distances from the lower forty-eight, however, this moved the center of the US to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Displeased with this watery center, they placed the two unconnected states next to Washington State, moving the new center to Belle Fourche, South Dakota.
Copan, Oklahoma (36º55’6”N, 95º50’48”W)
These final two centers are ones that I calculated, I found these points by using average latitude and longitude between the extreme points of the US. It could be argued that this method is inaccurate, because it essentially treats the US as a perfect square, including international waters beyond the reaches of American soil, although I would argue that it’s justified because they literally relocated Alaska and Hawaii to move the center to a more preferred location.
Debate aside, it is interesting to see that two other states could, technically, be considered centers of the USA!
Using the square method, from northern Minnesota to southern Florida, and eastern Maine to western Washington, the center of the contiguous US is placed near Copan, Oklahoma. I bet you did not expect Oklahoma to be a center!
Heppner, Oregon (45º9’N, 119º42’5”W )
And finally, using the square method, from northern Alaska to southern Hawaii, and eastern Maine to western Alaska places the center of entire US near Heppner, Oregon.
Interestingly, the Oregon Trail’s end in Oregon City is within 150 miles of this center. The Oregon Trail brought many Americans to the new territory, and it also brought them fairly close to what would become a center of the US about 100 years later.
At first thought, the center of this nation seemed to be an uncomplicated pursuit with one, definite answer, yet, there are at least four states that can claim the status of being the geographical center for varying reasons. The way that the center can fluctuate greatly for such minor changes in definition is nearly nonsensical, though still rational; it is practically paradoxical!
Do you know of any other geographical centers of the United States?
Onward American 