From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rugby is a city in Pierce County, North Dakota in the United States. It is the county seat of Pierce County. The population was 2,939 at the 2000 census. Rugby was founded in 1886.

Rugby is often billed as being the geographic center of North America.

Rugby was founded in 1886 at a junction on the Great Northern Railway, where the spur to Bottineau met the main line. The railroad promoters initially named it Rugby Junction for the famous railroad junction in Rugby, England in the hope of attracting English settlers. In fact about 80 percent of the population is of North Germanic and Scandinavian ancestry. When the community became a city the Junction was dropped from the name.

North Dakota's first permanent settlers arrived in 1812 from the Earl of Selkirk’s colony in neighboring Manitoba, Canada. As farmers, they were more advanced than many of their contemporaries in the rest of the United States, having adopted sophisticated farming methods and machinery. Many of these implements, including an early McCormick Deering threshing machine, have found their way to the restored Pioneer Village at Rugby.

In 1931, the town of Rugby erected a 15 foot (4.5 m) tall rock obelisk marking the "geographic center of North America". This was moved to a slightly different location in or after 1971. According to a listing by the United States Geological Survey, Rugby is actually approximately 15 miles (25 km) from the geographic center of North America, and even this designation carries no official status.

Rugby is located at 48°22′2″N, 99°59′46″W (48.367129, -99.995979)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.0 km² (1.9 mi²), all land.

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,939 people, 1,291 households, and 765 families residing in the city. The population density was 588.0/km² (1,520.1/mi²). There were 1,434 housing units at an average density of 286.9/km² (741.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.09% White, 1.02% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.03% from other races, and 0.48% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.44% of the population.

The top 6 ancestry groups in the city are German (49.6%), Norwegian (40.5%), Irish (5.3%), English (4.0%), Russian (3.7%), French (3.6%).

There were 1,291 households out of which 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.7% were non-families. 37.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.1% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 28.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 86.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,482, and the median income for a family was $35,745. Males had a median income of $25,885 versus $18,510 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,380. About 9.6% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.6% of those under age 18 and 19.1% of those age 65 or over.

The city of Rugby is served by Ely Elementary School and Rugby High School. Little Flower Catholic School is also in Rugby.

• Rugby Golf Club - a nine-hole golf course located east of Rugby. It measures 6,264 yards from the back tees.

• Rugby is located very near the geographical center of North America.

• Rugby has been referenced in two separate episodes of the television series Law & Order.

• In the movie Fight Club, adherents are instructed to re-route their bosses' mail to Rugby, North Dakota.

• Rugby (Amtrak station)

• City of Rugby official website
• Cairn marking Center of North America
• State of North Dakota website discussing Rugby's status as Geographic Center of North America
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 48.367129° -99.995979°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

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