Editing Rugby, North Dakota (section)

==History==
Rugby was founded in 1886 at a junction on the [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railway]], where a [[branch line]] to [[Bottineau, North Dakota|Bottineau]] met the main line. The railroad promoters initially platted the town as '''Rugby Junction''', getting the name Rugby from the town of [[Rugby, Warwickshire|Rugby]] in [[Warwickshire]], England.<ref name=Wick>{{cite web|last=Wick|first=Douglas A.|title=Rugby (Pierce County)|url=http://www.webfamilytree.com/North_Dakota_Place_Names/R/rugby_%28pierce_county%29.htm | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190214002913/http://www.webfamilytree.com/North_Dakota_Place_Names/R/rugby_(pierce_county).htm | archive-date = February 14, 2019 |work=North Dakota Place Names|access-date=May 5, 2011}}</ref> It was one of several sites along the Great Northern's [[transcontinental railroad|transcontinental route]] between [[Devils Lake, North Dakota|Devils Lake]] and [[Minot, North Dakota|Minot]] that were named after places in England (the others were [[Berwick, North Dakota|Berwick]], [[Leeds, North Dakota|Leeds]], [[Knox, North Dakota|Knox]], [[Norwich, North Dakota|Norwich]], [[Penn, North Dakota|Penn]], [[Surrey, North Dakota|Surrey]], [[Churchs Ferry, North Dakota|Churches Ferry]], Tunbridge, and [[York, North Dakota|York]]). When the community became a city, the ''Junction'' was dropped from the name.

North Dakota's first permanent settlers arrived in 1812 from the [[Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk|Earl of Selkirk's]] colony in neighboring [[Rupert's Land]].<ref name="gavett">{{cite book|first=Joseph L. |last=Gavett |title=North Dakota Immigrants: Coming to America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oVUZDK_St0sC |publisher=Wexford College Press |isbn=978-1-929148-74-5 |date=2007}}</ref>{{rp|277}} 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.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} Many of these implements, including an early McCormick Deering [[threshing machine]], have found their way to the restored Pioneer Village in Rugby.
[[File:Geographical Center of North America, Rugby, ND 2022-07-19.jpg|thumb|left|Obelisk near Rugby]]
In 1931, the town of Rugby erected a {{convert|15|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} rock [[obelisk]] marking the "Geographical Center of North America". This was moved to a slightly different location in 1971 with the expansion of [[U.S. Route 2|US Highway 2]].<ref name="atlasObscura">{{cite web|website=[[Atlas Obscura]] |title=The Geographical Center of North America |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/geographical-center-north-america |access-date=January 5, 2021}}</ref> According to a listing by the U.S. Geological Survey, Rugby is actually approximately {{convert|15|mi|km}} from the geographic center of [[North America]] ({{convert|6|mi}} west of [[Balta, North Dakota|Balta]]), and even this designation carries no official status.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Geographic Centers |work=USGS Geography Products |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |year=2001 |url=http://edc2.usgs.gov/pubslists/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.php#Distances |access-date=November 19, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527130434/http://edc2.usgs.gov/pubslists/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.php#Distances |archive-date=May 27, 2010}}</ref>