At 163.5 m. is the junction with ND 3, a graveled highway. At this crossroads is a stone cairn marking the GEOGRAPHIC CENTER OF NORTH AMERICA. In 1931 the U. S, Geological Survey determined that the geographic center of the continent is in Pierce County, N. Dak., and the marker at the highway junction is in the approximate center of the county. The survey states, "The geographic center of an area may be defined as that point on which the surface of the area would balance if it were a plane of uniform thickness, or in other words, the center of gravity of the surface.... It would not be feasible, therefore, to specify for such a large irregular area as that of North America the exact section, township and range in which the geographic center lies." Some years before 1931 Pierre, S. Dak., claimed to be the approximate center of the continent, based on the fact that two lines drawn from corner to corner of a map of North America intersected near Pierre.
Right on ND 3 is RUGBY, 1 m. (1,562 alt., 1,512 pop.), Pierce County seat, named for Rugby, England. It was platted in July 1885 and the first train arrived a month later. In the City Hall is a museum (open weekdays, 9-5) containing, among other things, Indian artifacts found in the county and Spanish-American War relics. Ellery Park and the tourist camp are in the western part of town. Rugby was the home of the late N. P. Lindberg, who is said to have originated the slogan, Say It With Flowers. It is said that in the course of a talk made at a national florists' convention in Chicago he remarked, "In North Dakota we say it with flowers." His words caught the fancy of his fellow delegates, who adopted them as a slogan. His florist shop and greenhouse, now operated by a son-in-law, are in the eastern part of town.
TUNBRIDGE, 168.5 m. (1,509 alt., 15 pop.), and BERWICK, 174.5 m. (1,484 alt., 100 pop.), are small hamlets R. of the route. Although the latter town has a name of English origin, the Berwick Post, which suspended publication several years ago, was published partly in German for the large community of Russo-Germans living S. of the town.
TOWNER, 183 m. (1,478 alt., 622 pop.), named for Col. O. M. Towner, one of the first ranchers in McHenry County, is the county seat. It lies in a bend of the SOURIS (Fr., mouse) RIVER, so named by French explorers for the numerous field mice found in the river basin. The river itself lies on a level plain that was at one time the bed of glacial Lake Souris, of which the stream is now the only remnant. Fully three-fourths of McHenry County is on this plain, once principally cattle country, now devoted to diversified farming.
During ranching days in the 1880's the country was a rough frontier populated by an odd assortment of personalities. Among these were two English peers, each of whom acquired a ranch near Towner, built a large home, and settled down to the serious business of living lavishly on remittances from home. The community was excited when one of the men had a visit from his sister, a countess prominent in women's suffrage work in the British Isles, who arrived on a special train. The other exile also had a caller from home, an elderly woman who arrived unexpectedly to find him occupied with the entertainment of a houseful of guests. She departed without seeing him or even getting out of her carriage. Not long afterwards both Englishmen took their leave.
Towner is the junction with ND 14, a graveled highway, which unites with US 2 between this point and 188 m.
1. Left from Towner on a graveled county road to the SCHULTZ HEREFORD RANCH, 1.8 m., where registered Hereford cattle and Belgian horses are bred. Situated on the timber-flanked banks of the Mouse, the ranch has an air of early-day friendliness. Its huge barns and corrals reflect the large-scale ranching of pioneer days joined with the efficiency of a modern business—a combination typical of the present-day stock raising industry in the State.
2. Right (N) from Towner on a graveled county road to a GOVERNMENT NURSERY, 1.5 m., where experimental work in connection with the shelterbelt project is conducted.
3. Right from Towner on ND 14 is BANTRY, 14 m. (1,469 alt., 150 pop.). Left from Bantry on ND 17, a graveled highway, to the LONG TURKEY RANCH, 20.5 m. At the age of six weeks the young turkeys are sent out on the 320-acre range in flocks of 700, and attain their full bone growth during the summer months. A few weeks before fall marketing the flocks are driven in to the ranch and the birds confined in large pens where they are fattened for market. More than 2,000 turkeys are shipped from the Long ranch annually.
At 188 m. is a junction with ND 14.