Rugby is a city in and the county seat of Pierce County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 2,509 at the 2020 census, making it the 19th largest city in North Dakota. Rugby was founded in 1886. Rugby is often billed as the geographic center of North America.
History Rugby was founded in 1886 at a junction on the Great Northern Railway, where a branch line to Bottineau met the main line. The railroad promoters initially platted the town as Rugby Junction, getting the name Rugby from the town of Rugby in Warwickshire, England. It was one of several sites along the Great Northern's transcontinental route between Devils Lake and Minot that were named after places in England (the others were Berwick, Leeds, Knox, Norwich, Penn, Surrey, Churches Ferry, Tunbridge, and 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 Earl of Selkirk's colony in neighboring Rupert's Land. 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. Many of these implements, including an early McCormick Deering threshing machine, have found their way to the restored Pioneer Village in Rugby.
In 1931, the town of Rugby erected a 15-foot-tall (4.6 m) rock obelisk marking the "Geographical Center of North America". This was moved to a slightly different location in 1971 with the expansion of US Highway 2. According to a listing by the U.S. Geological Survey, Rugby is actually approximately 15 miles (24 km) from the geographic center of North America (6 miles (9.7 km) west of Balta), and even this designation carries no official status.
Geography
Rugby is located in eastern Pierce County at the intersection of US 2 and ND 3. The Great Northern Railroad line passes through the community. Minot lies 66 miles to the west along Route 2. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.94 square miles (5.02 km2), all land. Rugby claims to be the geographic center of North America and a monument stands in the city to signify this. The monument features flags of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. However, modern calculations that take on account the distortions caused by cartographic projections show that center is 105 miles southwest of Rugby, in a town called Center, North Dakota.
Transportation
Rail Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, serves a station in Rugby via its Empire Builder, a once-daily train in each direction between Portland/Seattle and Chicago. The rail station was originally built by the Great Northern Railway in 1907 and has since undergone multiple renovations.
Highways US 2 and ND 3 serve the Rugby area.
Demographics
2020 census As of the 2020 census, Rugby had a population of 2,509. The median age was 46.0 years. 19.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 26.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 98.1 males age 18 and over. 0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas. There were 1,144 households in Rugby, of which 21.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 43.1% were married-couple households, 20.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 39.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 1,365 housing units, of which 16.2% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 20.2%.
2010 census As of the census of 2010, there were 2,876 people, 1,239 households, and 697 families living in the city. The population density was 1,482.5 inhabitants per square mile (572.4/km2). There were 1,407 housing units at an average density of 725.3 per square mile (280.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 91.9% White, 0.3% African American, 5.8% Native American, 0.9% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.3% of the population. There were 1,239 households, of which 23.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 43.7% were non-families. 39.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.83. The median age in the city was 47 years. 20% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.1% were from 25 to 44; 26.2% were from 45 to 64; and 26.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.7% male and 51.3% female.
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