Rugby, ND

Rugby is Pierce County's city and county seat, with 2,509 people at the 2020 census. It was founded in 1886 where a Great Northern Railway spur to Bottineau met the main line, and promoters first called it Rugby Junction. The name came from Rugby in Warwickshire, England, a nod to the railroad's hope of attracting English settlers. U.S. 2 and North Dakota 3 cross at the city, and the rail line still runs through the community.

Rugby is best known for a claim that is a little more complicated than the signs make it sound. A 1931 U.S. Geological Survey calculation placed the geographic center of North America about six miles west of Balta, while Rugby built a stone cairn in 1932 at the highway intersection and has made the marker part of the town's identity. The city also has Rugby Public Schools, Little Flower Catholic School, a swimming pool, recreation programs, county offices, and a local business district. The central-North-Dakota mix is the real orientation clue: railroad town, farm-service center, and a monument built around a disputed point on the map.