Hub of the Universe phrase is first used to described Boston.

(Dec.) In his Atlantic Monthly column, “The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” Oliver Wendell Holmes describes a overhearing a man say, “Boston State House is the hub of the solar system. You couldn’t pry that out of a Boston man, if you had the tire of all creation straightened out for a crowbar.” The phrase is subsequently changed to “Hub of the Universe.” Sticklers for detail later reveal that the apex of the State House dome is actually 42 degrees, 21′,29.596′ North Latitude; 71 degrees, 3’51.040′ West Longitude.