Rugby

Rugby, city, seat (1889) of Pierce county, north-central North Dakota, U.S. It lies about 140 miles (225 km) northwest of Grand Forks. Rugby, founded in 1885 as a Great Northern Railway junction and named for the English town (see Rugby, England), was settled by Scandinavian and German immigrants. It is in an agricultural area producing wheat, barley, rye, sunflowers, and dairy products; also, truck parts are manufactured there. As determined by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1931, the geographic centre of North America is located just south of the city; the location is marked by a 21-foot (6-metre) stone monument (constructed 1932, moved to present site 1971). Also on the site is the Northern Lights Tower, an 88-foot (27-metre) set of steel pillars lit to mimic the effect of the aurora borealis. The city also features the Prairie Village Museum, with exhibits on local history, and the Victorian Dress Museum, located in a former church building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The International Peace Garden is about 45 miles (70 km) north of Rugby on the Canadian border. In Wolford, northeast of Rugby, the Dale and Martha Hawk Museum hosts an annual antique farm show. Inc. 1905. Pop. (2000) 2,939; (2010) 2,876.