Front and center Plato, MO

Andy Justice walks to a pile of rocks on land he farms east of Plato, Mo., on Thursday. The rocks were placed there by a government survey crew to mark the population center of the United States.

PLATO, Mo. – In a nation of nearly 310 million people, America’s new population center rests not in a Midwestern skyline of St. Louis or Chicago, but in a tiny Missouri village named after an ancient Greek philosopher.

The Census Bureau announced Thursday what the 109 residents of Plato had suspected for weeks: Shifting population patterns and geographical chance converged to make this town on the edge of Mark Twain National Forest the center of the U.S. population distribution based on 2010 census data.

The announcement also signifies larger trends – America’s population is marching westward from the Midwest, pulled by migration to the Sun Belt. And in a surprising show of growth, Hispanics now account for more than half of the U.S. population increase over the last decade.

That doesn’t mean locals aren’t downright thrilled with the recognition and a chance to be noticed. AP

I had never heard of Plato,MO or Mark Twain National Forest until this morning. Had you?