Pierce County, North Dakota: History
The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on March 11, 1887, with areas partitioned from Bottineau, Rolette, McHenry and the now-extinct DeSmet counties. It was named for Gilbert A. Pierce, a Dakotas political figure. The county was not organized at that time, nor was it attached to another county for administrative or judicial purposes. It was attached to McHenry County on February 4, 1889, but that lasted only two months; on April 6 the county government was affected and the attachment to McHenry was terminated.
The county's boundaries were enlarged on November 8, 1892, when Church County was dissolved and a portion of its territory was annexed into Pierce.
The geographical center of North America is in Pierce County, approximately six miles (9.7 km) west of Balta. Rugby has a monument for the center at the intersection of US 2 and ND 3.