Hartville, Missouri celebrated as center of US population
For the fifth time in a row, the U.S. Census Bureau has named a town in Missouri as the center of the population in the United States.
Hartville, Missouri, a town of roughly 600 people an hour east of Springfield in Wright County, was designated the center of the population based on data collected during the 2020 census.
“It's a great feeling to live in Hartville," said Hartville Mayor Rob Tucker, in a press release. "It has always been a town with a big heart and is now the heart of America."
More specifically, the center of the population is roughly 15 miles outside of Hartville, but to make it simpler, the U.S. Census Bureau usually designates the nearest incorporated municipality as the population center.
According to the City of Hartville, the center of the population is where an "imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if everyone were an identical weight," meaning the center of the population is the average location of where people in the United States live.
Where else has been the center of the U.S. population?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the center of the population has been calculated since 1790 and was first designated as Chestertown, Maryland but has since moved west and south.
“The movement of the center of population helps tell the story of this century’s migration South and West,” said Ron Jarmin, the Census Bureau’s acting director, in a press release. “It helps visualize where we live.”
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It is calculated every 10 years after a new census is completed. The center of the population first came to Missouri in 1980 and has remained in Missouri since. Previous centers of the population include DeSoto, Missouri in Jefferson County (1980); Steelville, Missouri in Crawford County (1990); Edgar Springs, Missouri in Phelps County (2000); and Plato, Missouri in Texas County (2010).
Hartville is roughly 12 miles from the 2010 center of the population, Plato, Missouri and about 886 miles from the first center of the population in Maryland, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Director of the U.S. Census Bureau Robert Santos said that calculating the center of the population helps determine what communities need and in turn helps the federal government provide funding for those things.
"We help you, the people we serve, understand who we are as a nation, a state, a town, a neighborhood," Santos said at the celebration event in Hartville. "That even helps towns like yours here in Hartville figure out if you need a bigger school or health facility, where the best spot is for a fire station or a stop light, how to attract businesses, whether more housing is needed. All kinds of stuff related to economic development and quality of life."
Hartville gets a new monument
A permanent survey marker, provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Geodetic Survey (NGS), was unveiled in Hartville on Wednesday during a ceremony commemorating the occasion. The Hartville High School choir performed along with Grammy-winning banjo player, and Hartville native, Aaron McDaris. Local politicians also spoke including Melvin Moon, a local pastor and city council member.
"I think Hartville, Missouri being the heart of America has a nice ring to it," Moon said. "I feel like the values and the sharing together, I mean we know we're not perfect, but the neighbor loving neighbor, helping neighbor, and communities like this, is what makes America so special."
Jordan Meier covers public safety for the Springfield News-Leader. Contact her at jmeier@news-leader.com, or on Twitter @Jordan_Meier644.