{"id":14238,"date":"2013-10-20T09:45:56","date_gmt":"2013-10-20T14:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=14238"},"modified":"2025-02-25T18:03:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T23:03:32","slug":"middle-nowhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/middle-nowhere\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle of Nowhere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I once searched for and found<\/a> the Center of the Universe. Never mind that there were plenty of other claimants, I found the one true center naturally because the Intertubes confirmed it and of course that made it unquestionably true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was much more difficult to find the middle of nowhere. First one must discover the exact placement of nowhere and then travel to the middle of it to verify the claim. Unfortunately the great body of Internet knowledge didn’t help much. A bazillion different people asserted that their measurement of nowhere was best despite relying on wild assertions or idiomatic usage. Twelve Mile Circle took an equally futile stab at it, searching for places literally called “Nowhere.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Success! I found three candidates in three different countries using official geographical databases and national gazetteers. Nowhere existed in the United States, Canada and Australia. It’s probably located in other nations too but written in different languages (e.g., Nirgendwo, Hvergi, Askund) so I’ll leave that to the 12MC audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nowhere, Oklahoma<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I discovered arguably the biggest, most significant, most well-known Nowhere in the world in Oklahoma. The USGS Geographic Names Information System<\/a> located it precisely within the heart of the state and it was very much a populated place. In fact the USGS’ coordinates 35.1592256\u00b0, -98.4422802\u00b0<\/a> fell pretty much right in the midst of various structures located therein, offering a solid proxy for the United State’s Middle of Nowhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This candidate location even had it’s own Wikipedia entry<\/a>, albeit a stub, which I’ve reproduced in its entirety:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Nowhere is an unincorporated community in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. Nowhere is located at the southeast end of Fort Cobb Reservoir 5.5 miles (8.9 km) south-southwest of Albert and 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Anadarko.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Albert and Anadarko aren’t exactly bustling metropolises (metropoleis?) themselves, lending further credence to the claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Theory of Nowhere<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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