Schott's Miscellany 27 September 2009
THE CENTER OF AMERICA
The U.S. Geological Survey, admitting that there is no universally accepted or utterly satisfactory definition of the "geographic center" of an area, offers one definition as "the center of gravity of the surface, or that point on which the surface of an area would balance if it were a plane of uniform thickness." Clearly, a number of factors will influence any measurement of the center of America (large bodies of water, the curvature of the Earth, etc.), not to mention the exact definition of the landmass:
Geographic area | location | |
Conterminous U.S. (48 states) | nr Lebanon, Smith County, KS | 39°50'N 98°35'W |
Continental U.S. (49 states) | nr Castle Rock, Butte County, SD | 44°59'N 103°38'W |
The U.S. (50 states) | W. of Castle Rock, Butte County, SD | 44°58'N 103°46'W |
North American Continent | 6 mi W. of Balta, Pierce County, ND | 48°10'N 100°10'W |
Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967)