Center of the Nation: 50 States
Belle Fourche, South Dakota
It's difficult to imagine a more important American center than the Center of the 50 States, and yet among the USA's cornucopia of centers it is the most modest. There's not much to see, it's not near anything, and for years it was confused (at least by us) with the more prominent Center of the 49 States, which was nearby, had an additional Sheepherders Monument and it's own postcard, and is now abandoned.
The Center of the 50 States never even got the chance to be formerly famous. It was, and remains, a metal pole stuck into a pasture about 50 yards off of a gravel road, behind a ditch and a barbed wire fence. A concrete slab with the small survey marker is at the base of the pole, which sometimes is helpfully topped with an American flag. A home-made Center of the Nation sign may or may not be hanging from the fence, which you have to duck under to get to the pole. The farmer doesn't mind visitors -- but there are bugs, and possibly snakes.
The tourism industry is built on laziness, and we love attractions that are right off of an interstate as much as anyone. But there's also satisfaction in visiting a spot that you have to drive out of your way to get to, and that you know will be mostly in your mind when you get there. The Center of the 50 States is that kind of place. "It's for people who are die-hards," said Teresa Schanzenbach of the Belle Fourche Chamber of Commerce. "A lot of people are happy that it's just a fence post in a pasture."