Center of America

In tonight's readings, landscape was a common theme. Many of them talked about landscape as design and as a symbol of a community's priorities. For example, the New England Puritan communities normally place the town meeting hall at the center of the development. The "preferred layout of the New England town radiated out cocentrically from the meeting house as its center" (pg. 138, The Puritan Reading). Moreover, in traditional homes, a fireplace was build at the center to disperse heat throughout the entire house. It is clear that American landscapes and architecture our designed with purpose. So, I started thinking about the United States as a nation. What is at the center of our national landscape? What represents us? Now, this item or symbol need not be physically in the middle of the country, but rather represent the entirety of America. Some obvious choices might be the Statue of Liberty, the Constitution, or perhaps New York City, or Crazy Horse national monument. Or would it be something in nature, such as the Mississippi river? As of right now, I would probably choose the Constitution (and its amendments), as it contains our freedoms that are essential to being an American. Still, I wonder if those rights represent our country to other nations. Perhaps there is no center of America.