By some strange quirks of fate, I have found myself living in central Missouri near the unofficial geographic population center of the country. As determined by the 2010 census, the tiny town of Plato Missouri, about 100 mile to the south of me in Texas Co. Missouri was actually determined to be the official center of the population based on the 2010 US Census. However, my neighbors in Callaway County Missouri know better. Researchers in Michigan using a 3D rather than 2D map to determine the center have found that the tiny town of Tebbetts Mo. (pop. 80 - located along the cross state KATY Trail Missouri State Park, a highly successful rail to trail conversion), actually lies at the true population center of the nation. I live nearby along the north side of the Missouri River overlooking River Mile 115 at the mouth of Logan Creek, just east of the mouth of remarkably well named Eagle Creek.
On the sandbar in the Missouri River just east of the mouth of Eagle Creek, I have on one remarkable day observed a gathering of more that 120 Bald Eagles. I find that amazing, because in my youth, my dad would pull over and have us all pile out of the car and look at any and every Great Blue Heron or other large bird we might see. They were that rare.
The population center of the US is certain to change with the new 2020 census data, whenever that becomes available. As has been the trend for over a century, the population center will move south and west of me.
What exactly is the geographic population center you might ask. Think about it this way. If the map of the US were a solid flat plate and you plotted the residence of every person and assigned them all an equal weight value, the balance point would be the geographic center.
According to my neighbors, as of 2010 that point was at Tebbetts. When a railroad depot was built there in 1893, along the Missouri — Kansas — Texas Railroad — (the MoKT or KATY as it is now known) the town that grew up around that whistle stop was named after Louis Bates Tebbetts, an officer of the railroad construction company.
The village of Plato, Missouri, over 100 miles to the south of Tebbetts, was designated the official 2010 U.S. Population Center based on that year's census data, but Tebbetts knows better. The U.S. Census Bureau, according to Tebbet(ts, used a flat map to make its Center determination; later, two researchers from a Michigan university checked the results using a 3-D map, and declared Tebbetts to be the true population center of the 48 contiguous states.
A large sign in the town's tiny park boasts, "'Unofficial' Geographic Population Center Continental U.S.A." Since we live in a 3-D world, Tebbetts has a strong argument
(-- at least until we get the next batch of data from the 2020 census, at which point it will be clear that the geographic population center has once again moved south and west.)
Tebbetts is as short distance east of Jefferson City, the Capital of Missouri which is the 16th largest state with a population in excess of 6 million, most of whom are concentrated in the St Louis, Kansas City and Springfield metro areas and around the State University in Columbia and the seat of government in Jefferson City, which is deep in the heart of flyover country. The contrails in my sky make that plain.
The political leanings here along the north side of the Missouri River in SE Callaway Co. Missouri are decidedly red. Deep dark red. My neighbors would reelect Josh Hawley in a heartbeat, as well as our Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R- Mo 4th) who eagerly and unapologetically joined with more than 100 other Republicans who voted to delay electoral college certification based on bogus claims of election irregularities and who joined in support of the Texas AG in an effort to turn back the vote count in Pennsylvania and overturn the results of the last presidential election. Many of my neighbors are religious Bible thumping gun owning anti-abortion conservatives who want still lower taxes and more and better government services. They will always believe whatever nonsense Q spews out and question Chuck Schumer and Katie Porter and every other Democrat.
My neighbors would never allow the government to collect or publish this sort of data, but I’m pretty certain that on average the ratio of guns to bibles in my neighbors households averages more than 5 to 1
Despite all those negatives, my neighbors and I live in an Eagle’s paradise. Over the last 16 years, the resident and winter Bald Eagle population here in the heart of deep Red flyover country has continued to grow and flourish. I can reliably count on seeing Bald Eagles in my back yard and along my drive to the State Capital every day in winter and at least once a month throughout the summer.
All these Bald Eagles living in my neighborhood are a vivid testament to the potential for positive change. Eagles flourish in my piece of the sky, in part because government banned DDT that thinned bird’s egg shells and because the EPA and Endangered Species Act help to provide a viable environment. There is still work to do, to remove plastic from the food chain and to limit the use of pesticides herbicides and fungicides in places where they might do undue harm to birds. Eagles are no longer an endangered species because government implemented policies that helped bring them back from extirpation in the Lower 48. The policy changes that led to this success took time to implement and to show success, but each day in winter and every month in the rest of the year, I can look out my widows and see Bald Eagles and I count that as proof that government and good governance are still possible in America
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