Geodetic Center of North America, the central point used in making governmental surveys of North America. All other points are charted according to their distance and direction from this point. It is at the Meades Ranch Triangulation Station in Osborne County, Kansas, about 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Osborne, the county seat. This station, established in 1891, was named a central survey station by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1901. It lay near what was then the country's geographic center, and calculations showed it could be used with convenience and minimum error. Canada and Mexico adopted it in 1913 as a basis for their surveys.