Where is the Geographical center of New England?

Answer 1

Dunbarton, NH

Sanford, Maine and Wakefield, NH have both claimed it, but then someone asked, "Where does the true center lie? Surely in this age of MapQuest and Google Earth someone could come up with an accurate and impartial answer."

That person was Suchi Gopal, professor in Boston University's Department of Geography and Environment, and Center for Remote Sensing. Assisted by her graduate students Hirshikesh Patel and Jared Newell, Gopal used the center of gravity, or "centroid," method. "A mathematical calculation that uses a digital representation of the six New England states is the most accurate because it's based on a math algorithm that the computer uses to calculate the center based on the boundaries," Gopal said. Her calculation, she added, also took into account the irregular coastline of Maine and the islands off the coast of Massachusetts.

And the answer? A place located at 43.117199 degrees latitude and -71.593498 degrees longitude, some 50 miles southwest of Wakefield and Sanford and only a few miles from the intersection of Interstates 93 and 89: Dunbarton, N.H., population 2,600.

Excerpted from an article titled, "Lots of heart, but only one center", written for The Boston Globe, by Ethan Gilsdorf, Globe Correspondent

Answer 2

Worcester