Pumpkin Center, Oklahoma | |
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  Pumpkin Center Location within the state of Oklahoma Show map of Oklahoma Pumpkin Center Pumpkin Center (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates:34°35′38″N98°12′43″W / 34.59389°N 98.21194°W /34.59389; -98.21194 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oklahoma |
| County | Comanche |
| Elevation | 1,161 ft (354 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| FIPS code | 40-61050 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1096955[1] |
Pumpkin Center is anunincorporated community inComanche County,Oklahoma, United States. It is located at the intersection ofstate highways 7 and65, approximately 10 miles east ofLawton in thesouthwestern portion of the state.[1]
This is not to be confused with thePumpkin Center located in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma which is about 10 miles northeast of the city ofOkmulgee,[1] or with thePumpkin Center located in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, which is about 14 miles east of the city ofMuskogee,[2] or with thePumpkin Center located in Cherokee County, Oklahoma which is about 7.5 miles northeast ofBraggs.[3]
The origins of the name of the town are not known, and many theories exist.[4] One story has it that an old man’s pickup truck carrying pumpkins to market broke down in the area, and he had to sell the pumpkins to passing motorists to pay for the mechanic’s bill.[4] However, “Pumpkin Center” as a town name was widely publicized by oneCal Stewart, who was a popular spoken-word recording artist in the late 1890s and early 1900s.[5] 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".[5] The recordings described life in Pumpkin Center, as well as the character’s collisions with modernity in New York City.[5] 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).[6]
Municipalities and communities ofComanche County, Oklahoma,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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