Entry No. 43 — the Coeur d'Alene file — filed under: outdoor
Center of the Universe, Wallace
A painted manhole cover in the middle of a Wallace intersection is officially proclaimed the Center of the Universe, declared by Mayor Ron Garitone in 2004 as a tongue-in-cheek rebuttal after the EPA labeled the old mining town a Superfund site (his logic: if pollution can't be disproved, neither can this). The whole historic downtown leans into the gag, and Wallace's downtown core is a National Register Historic District, making it a walkable folk-monument environment. It's a genuine roadside conceptual-art landmark about an hour east in the Silver Valley.
The story
When the Environmental Protection Agency expanded its Silver Valley Superfund footprint in the early 2000s, claiming that unproven risks justified federal intervention, Wallace locals decided to beat bureaucratic logic at its own game. Conceived over drinks at the Smokehouse bar on Bank Street by a handful of residents—including Northern Pacific Depot Railroad Museum director Shauna Hillman—the town adopted the science of "probabilism." Their syllogism was simple: if you cannot mathematically or scientifically prove that Wallace is not the Center of the Universe, then by administrative default, it must be.
On September 25, 2004, Mayor Ron Garitone made the joke permanent with an official proclamation declaring Wallace the absolute Center of the Universe and challenging any federal entity or astronomer to disprove it. The town replaced a standard sewer grate at Bank and 6th Streets with a custom-stamped manhole cover. At its center sits a relief of a hard-rock miner, encircled by a compass rose and four set of initials—BHM, CDE, HL, and SRLM—honoring Bunker Hill, Coeur d'Alene, Hecla, and Sunshine, the mining behemoths that built the Silver Valley.
What it's like
Finding the landmark requires no admission ticket, but it does require paying attention to oncoming traffic. The manhole cover sits flush in the middle of a working street intersection surrounded by red paint, so you'll be dodging local pickup trucks while stepping out for your photo on the cosmic axis. The vibe is purely deadpan civic theater. Once you've stood on the cover, you're already in the middle of Wallace's entire four-by-nine-block historic downtown, making it seamless to step directly off the street and into nearby antique storefronts, historic saloons, or mining museums.
The move: Drive out for the day, stand together on the manhole cover for the obligatory 'center of the universe' photo, then poke through Wallace's antique shops and historic mining-town storefronts.
📍 Before you go About 50 miles east of Coeur d'Alene via I-90. The marker is in the street, so watch for the occasional car. Best paired with a full afternoon exploring Wallace's historic downtown.
- 📍 Wallace
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: Corner of Bank St & 6th St, Wallace, ID 83873
Hours: Added 2026-06-24 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Oasis Bordello Museum — Follow up your photo on the manhole cover with a two-minute walk to a 1988 bordello preserved exactly as workers left it during a federal raid.
- Sierra Silver Mine Tour — Connect the corporate initials stamped on the manhole cover to real underground history with a hard-hat silver mine tour led by a retired miner.
- North Idaho Trading Co. — Keep the offbeat downtown walk going just a block away inside a maze-like shop packed with over 150 taxidermy specimens and curiosities.
Good to know
Where is the Center of the Universe marker located?
It is embedded directly in the street at the intersection of Bank Street and 6th Street in downtown Wallace, Idaho.
Why was Wallace declared the Center of the Universe?
Mayor Ron Garitone officially proclaimed it in 2004 as a sarcastic rebuttal to EPA Superfund designations, using the joke that if the government couldn't disprove the town was the center of the universe, it officially was.
What do the initials stamped on the manhole cover mean?
The initials represent four major historic Silver Valley mining operations: Bunker Hill Mining Company (BHM), Coeur d'Alene Mines (CDE), Hecla Mining (HL), and Sunshine Mining (SRLM).
Is there a fee or operating hours to see the manhole cover?
No. It is a public roadside monument located in an active city intersection, accessible for free 24/7.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Atlas Obscura · visitidaho.org · Roadside America · Wikipedia · Official site
last checked: 2026-06-24