North Dakota’s Weirdest Tourist Attraction is Geographically Controversial

There's a unique history behind a tourist attraction in the Peace Garden State that's recently earned the title of North Dakota's 'Weirdest Tourist Attraction.'

If you're not from North Dakota, you may not realize all the tourist attractions that exist here. There's Salem Sue in New Salem, Dakota Thunder in Jamestown, Tommy the Turtle in Bottineau, the Enchanted Highway, and several others. But according to MoneyWise, none of the aforementioned tourist attractions are considered the weirdest.

For that, you would need to go to the 'Geographical Center of North America' in Rugby, ND... or wait, is it Robinson, ND? Therein lies the controversy. MoneyWise described the geographical controversy as such in their article that lists the 'Weirdest Tourist Attraction in Every State':

Two North Dakota towns, Rugby and Robinson, fight over the title of the 'geographical center of North America.' Rugby claimed the honor in 1931, changing the town's seal to reflect the status. A stone obelisk in a parking lot marks the spot. Robinson's Mayor Bill Bender discovered that Rugby let its trademark expire and claimed it for Robinson instead. Rugby answered by filing a nearly identical trademark — indicating the fight isn't over.

Hanson's Bar in Robinson took over the geographical claim back in October of 2016. However, in MoneyWise's listing, they didn't mention that back in April of this year, Rugby and Robinson came to an agreement, as noted by an article in Minot Daily News. Rugby's Chamber of Commerce issued a statement in regards to the dispute:

...has been resolved in a manner satisfactory to both the Rugby Chamber and NFNP (Hanson’s Bar). As a result of that resolution, NFNP has both ended its use of the mark and acknowledge the Rugby Chamber’s rights in the mark going forward from the date of the agreement. The parties are pleased to have reached on amicable resolution of their differences.

And there it is, the controversy has been resolved over North Dakota's 'Weirdest Tourist Attraction' and Rugby is once again the geographical center of North America.