Center of Nation Surrounded by Discord

Somewhere on a patch of open land in western South Dakota is a small concrete and steel block marking what the U.S. Geological Survey says is the official center of the United States.

But beside a highway about 10 miles from there is the official Center of the Nation Monument, where tourists can stop to take pictures of a pile of rocks.

So which one is right?

Some residents of the town of Belle Fourche want to clear up the confusion, and help the economy, by closing the often-vandalized roadside tourist stop and building a visitors center in town. It would include directions to the real center.

Kathy Wainman, president of the area Chamber of Commerce, says the real center is the one with the USGS marker.

Kevin Kuchenbecker, program coordinator of Belle Fourche Main Street Inc., says the pile of rocks along U.S. 85 is just that. He said the roadside site, with public restrooms, was set up when the state built the highway and rerouted traffic away from the real center of the nation.

The exhibit at one time had a disclaimer that it was not the real center. But the disclaimer was on a bronze plaque that has since been stolen.

Kuchenbecker and Wainman want the state to close down the highway site and help them build a visitor center in Belle Fourche. Pronounced “bell foosh,” the town of 4,335 residents is about 60 miles north of Mt. Rushmore.

State workers support the idea because of the difficulty in maintaining the roadside site.

“We really have a mess out there,” said Gene Peterson, the state Highway Department engineer responsible for maintenance at the road site. “There’s a bunch of people in town that go out there and raise hell. We keep building and repairing things and they keep tearing them down.

“I know we’ve got some nasty letters from tourists who think they’re going to see something like Mt. Rushmore, but this is basically a place to stop and do your bathroom chores,” Peterson said.

Wainman said there is no reason to maintain the state structure.

“I think if we’re not going to have a monument in the exact spot, we should bring it into town where it can do some good for the economy . . . and cut down on all those problems,” she said.

The chamber of commerce and Belle Fourche Main Street Inc. want a building in town that would house several local offices, public restrooms, an information center and possibly a museum. Kuchenbecker said it would cost about $850,000.

A plaque would direct visitors who want to see the true center of the nation to the Geological Survey marker about 20 miles north of town.

“You really have to know what you’re looking for to find it,” said Fred Bock, a US West employee. “There aren’t too many people left that could walk right up to the spot.”

Members of the two local groups and some state officials plan to meet later this month to consider the proposal.

There is nothing sophisticated about finding the exact middle of the United States, according to a U.S. Geological Survey official. In fact, it is just a balancing act.

“If you were to cut out the shape of the United States from a map and then balance it, the center of the country represents the center of mass. It’s the point that would balance,” said Mike Pace, chief of the computation unit of the USGS’ Midcontinent Mapping Center in Rolla, Mo.

The nation’s geographic center is in Butte County, S.D., about 20 miles northeast of Belle Fourche. Officially, it is 44 degrees, 50 minutes north latitude and 103 degrees, 46 minutes west longitude.

Before Alaska became the 49th state in 1959, the nation’s center was in Kansas. With Alaska, the center moved north--to a point also in Butte County.

When Hawaii became a state later that year, the USGS calculated the center at about 9 miles away, at its current location. Oceans are disregarded in the USGS method.