Center Marking: A close view of the 12-in diameter marker on the granite map designating the area of South Dakota where the center of the nation is located. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
The geographic center of the country is in Lebanon, Kan. and the center of the nation is in Belle Fourche, S.D. That is a confusing statement that should be clarified.
In our travels around the country, we love traveling the back roads, those two-lane highways that pass through small town America, which has been all but forgotten since the interstate highways were constructed. We often see or find interesting historical facts or simply enjoy a good dose of Americana.
While traveling in South Dakota three years ago we were leaving the Black Hills area and moving toward Wyoming. We passed a small town that advertised itself as the Center of the Nation. We thought that was strange because we both thought the geographic center of the country was in Kansas. We had to make a stop to ease our confusion.
As it turns out, the Center of the Nation is indeed in Belle Fourche, S.D. which is in the western side of South Dakota near the borders of South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. This has been the center of the nation since Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1959.
The Center of the Nation Monument and Tri-States Visitors Center opened in 2007 in hopes to bring tourism to the area and make the center point known. The actual official geographic marker is on private property about 20 miles north of town on farm property. Since Belle Fourche is the closest town, it is now considered the center of the nation for visitors. Behind the visitor center is a beautiful monument made of granite. The monument lies flat on the ground designed in the shape of a compass with a map of the United States in the center with the town of Belle Fourche marked as the center of the nation.
In June of this year, we were traveling home from a trip to the eastern U.S. when we noticed that Lebanon, Kansas was known as the Center of the Lower 48 States or the center of the contiguous United States. We got directions and drove a few miles out of town to a small park in the middle of farmland. The park is known as Geographic Center Park and includes the official marker of the geographic center of the contiguous United States. The park was dedicated in 1941 and celebrates the center of the lower 48 with a white chapel, park benches, a gazebo with tables, and the stone center marker with the nation’s flag flying above.
Both center points are well appointed and fun to visit. Both are proud monuments for their part in our country’s history and both carry a patriotic vibe as you walk the areas and enjoy the markers.
So, if asked where the geographic center of the U.S. is located, the first answer is which geographic center?
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Center of the Nation: A group of visitors take photos of the center of the nation marker on the granite monument in Belle Fourche, S.D. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
"center" - Google News
July 18, 2021 at 08:45PM
https://ift.tt/2UfFDoV
Posts From The Road: The Center Of The Nation - Los Alamos Daily Post
"center" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bUHym8
https://ift.tt/2zR6ugj
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Posts From The Road: The Center Of The Nation - Los Alamos Daily Post"
Post a Comment