In 1959, after Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey officially designated a point 20 miles north of Belle Fourche, South Dakota, as the Geographic Center of the Nation. The entry of Alaska and Hawaii as states moved the site from its old position in Smith Center, Kansas, to Butte County, South Dakota. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey announced that the new center is at latitude 44 degrees, 58 minutes north, and longitude 103 degrees, 46 minutes west.