So this was kind of an unplanned stop on my last road trip. I knew I wanted to take the long way home (cutting south into Kansas instead of taking the highway east) from seeing the sandhill cranes so that I could see the world's largest ball of twine. Because, obviously. It's an 18,000 pound ball of twine, of course I'm going there.
So I'm in my hotel in Nebraska the night before, looking at my road atlas to make sure I understand the highways I'll need to take to get to the twineball, and I see this little red mark on the map labelled "Geographic Center of the 48 Contiguous States." And it's literally right on my way to the twine, so I figure why not stop?
And so I did.
So I'm in my hotel in Nebraska the night before, looking at my road atlas to make sure I understand the highways I'll need to take to get to the twineball, and I see this little red mark on the map labelled "Geographic Center of the 48 Contiguous States." And it's literally right on my way to the twine, so I figure why not stop?
And so I did.
The geographic center of the entire United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) is located in northwestern South Dakota. But if you don't count Alaska and Hawaii and just look at the main part of the country, the center is here - just north of Lebanon, Kansas.
One little oddity of visiting this place is that you get to drive the ENTIRE length of a highway. Kansas highway 191 starts at the intersection with highway 281, and ends a mile later at the Geographic Center of the US. But your friends don't know that it's only a mile, see, so you can be all, "Yeah, I drove all the way down the length of ol' 191 from east to west, THEN BACK AGAIN," and then they'll all think you're a total badass.
Anyhoo, here's what you'll see when you get to the end of 191. At first glance it may seem like there's not much to see here...
One little oddity of visiting this place is that you get to drive the ENTIRE length of a highway. Kansas highway 191 starts at the intersection with highway 281, and ends a mile later at the Geographic Center of the US. But your friends don't know that it's only a mile, see, so you can be all, "Yeah, I drove all the way down the length of ol' 191 from east to west, THEN BACK AGAIN," and then they'll all think you're a total badass.
Anyhoo, here's what you'll see when you get to the end of 191. At first glance it may seem like there's not much to see here...
...and on second glance, you'll confirm that, ayup, there's not much to see here. There's a little picnic shelter in the middle there with picnic tables, and a few benches scattered around for your sitting pleasure. There's a little bulletin board with decades-old newspaper clippings about the site. On the left is a tiny chapel. And by tiny, I mean seating for six. Tiny.
Then there are not one, not two, but three different signposts denoting this as the geographic center of the nation. There's the wooden sign shown up top in the first photo of the post, which has clearly been here a while. Then there's this newer-looking sign made of stone slabs.
Then there are not one, not two, but three different signposts denoting this as the geographic center of the nation. There's the wooden sign shown up top in the first photo of the post, which has clearly been here a while. Then there's this newer-looking sign made of stone slabs.
So comparatively fancy!
And then there's this plaque on the base of the flagpole. The plaque is from 1940, which is before Alaska and Hawaii were states, so it didn't have to qualify itself with all that "contiguous" business.
And then there's this plaque on the base of the flagpole. The plaque is from 1940, which is before Alaska and Hawaii were states, so it didn't have to qualify itself with all that "contiguous" business.
All in all I guess it was worth the 5-minute detour I took from my route to get here. Though there's probably not enough here to justify going hours out of your way. Unless you're the type of person who really likes to stand in the exact centers of things. Then you should make the trip FOR SURE.
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