Pumpkin Center is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
Cherokee County,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, United States. It is approximately 7.5 miles northeast of
Braggs.
This should not be confused with the
Pumpkin Center located in Comanche County, Oklahoma, which is about 10 miles east of
Lawton;
with the
Pumpkin Center located in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, which is about 14 miles east of the city of
Muskogee;
or with the
Pumpkin Center located in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, which is approximately 10 miles northeast of the city of
Okmulgee.
No information appears on the origins of the name; however, "Pumpkin Center" as a town name was widely publicized by one
Cal Stewart
Cal Stewart (b. 1856 Charlotte County, Virginia, d. December 7, 1919) was an American comedian and humorist who pioneered in vaudeville and early sound recordings. He is best remembered for his comic monologues in which he played "Uncle Josh W ...
, who was a popular spoken-word recording artist in the late 1890s and early 1900s.
He frequently played the character of a gullible individual by the name of Uncle Josh Weathersby, who hailed from the fictional town of "Pumpkin Center" or "Punkin Center".
The recordings described life in Pumpkin Center, as well as the character’s collisions with modernity in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
Perhaps as a result, there are at least 31 communities in the U.S. named Pumpkin Center scattered across 16 states, including Alabama (3), Arizona (2), California (2), Florida, Georgia, Indiana (2), Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri (2), Mississippi, North Carolina (3), Oklahoma (4), South Dakota, Tennessee (3) and Virginia (2).
References
Unincorporated communities in Oklahoma
Unincorporated communities in Cherokee County, Oklahoma
{{Oklahoma-geo-stub