The 1950 census of population conducted by the Bureau of the Census of the U.S. Department of Commerce determined the center of population of the United States to be in Richland County, Illinois, at latitude 38 degrees 50 minutes 21 seconds north and longitude 88 degrees 9 minutes 33 seconds west. The site was dedicated on October 18, 1951, at a ceremony attended by Adlai E. Stevenson, governor of Illinois, Henry R. Schricker, governor of Indiana, and Charles Sawyer, Secretary of Commerce of the U.S.A. The location is near the center of population.