And Yet Another Surprise!

I'm tellin' ya' folks, you gotta get outta your house, outta the airplanes, get in your cars and stay off of the Interstates!  Here we are just a few miles down the road from tinsy-tiny Buffalo, South Dakota and we find...

Notice in fine print at the top of the sign, "The True..."

Apparently there is a fancy monument a bit further down the road, just north of Belle Fourche, South Dakota marking the "Center of the Nation."  But it's apparently not the TRUE center.  (I'd bet there's a story there somewhere, but I don't know who to ask about it.)
 

Now, when I open the road atlas and locate Belle Fourche, South Dakota, I don't see it as being the "center" of the nation. There seems to be several places that claim that, like Lebanon, Kansas. There is a reason, though, for all of the confusion. 

The geographic center of the contiguous (lower) 48 states is about four miles west of Lebanon, Kansas, at 98°35' West 39°50' North.  That's pretty much on the Kansas - Nebraska border.  You're not gonna believe the "scientific" way that was originally determined:  In 1918 the Coast and Geodetic Survey people made a cardboard cutout of the contiguous 48 states, balanced it on a pin and - there it was!  Believe it or not, when they really got scientific and used modern GPS kinda stuff, they were only off by about 20 miles.  Amazing.

In 1959, with the addition of Hawai'i and Alaska to the United States, the geographic center of the entire United States did move to the South Dakota location. 

Having said that, the Geodetic Survey no longer endorses any location as the center of the U.S. (because of changing coastlines), so - take your pick.  The one in Kansas has a wedding chapel next to it, though, and a picnic table...  but the Hawaiians and Alaskans might take exception to your counting them out.