N 39° 50 W 098° 35 - Lebanon KS
Posted by: PeterNoG
N 39° 49.701 W 098° 34.768
14S E 535986 N 4408790
A plaque on the monument marking the Geographic Center of the United States (the lower 48; long before Alaska and Hawaii joined the Union).
Waymark Code: WM6NK6
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 06/27/2009
Views: 17
~ According to
Geographic Center of Lower 48 States of America Waymark ~
?The Lebanon, Kansas Center in fact, was determined by cutting the shape of the lower 48 states out of a cardboard sheet, and balancing it on a point. This determination of the center of gravity of the country (or at least of a jagged piece of cardboard) was used by the Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1918, and placed the center of the lower 48 states at 39 50'N. longitude 98 35W latitude.
This method, even at its best, is believed to be accurate only within ten or twenty miles. Though the Geodetic Survey would later regret making any official declaration, this early endorsement was enough to enable Lebanon's Hub Club to claim its center as official, beating a few other competing communities for the title, which, it was assumed, could lead to considerable tourist revenue, and literally put the community on the map.