When Kay Barnes made her big announcement yesterday that she’s running for Congress, she made it crystal clear that she’s trying to tap into her small-town roots.
She made her announcement in her hometown of St. Joseph while standing in front of her mother’s home, with four generations of her family nearby. According to a statement on her Web site, the former Kansas City mayor said: “I never forgot I was a daughter of St. Joseph, and its values were never far from my mind.” Then, according to the site, she said she couldn’t wait to visit “communities in which our family, the Cronkites and Morfords, have roots, and they include, of course, my hometown of St. Joseph, plus Albany and Oregon, and Skidmore and Maitland and my favorite, Pumpkin Center, where my mother was born.”
Wait. What?
Having never heard of this Harry Potter-sounding Pumpkin Center, I called up Google maps to take a look. Sure enough, there is a Pumpkin Center, Missouri. But when you zoom in and click on the satellite image, it shows only a desolate highway. No buildings. No people. No Cronkites and no Morfords.
So I called the library in nearby Maryville. Diane Houston, who handles the historical research, explained what happened. “When they put the four-lane highway in, it pretty much disappeared,” Houston said. “There used to be a town. But not anymore.”
The town-decimating road in question is Highway 71, which provides Maryville residents a straight shot to St. Joseph. When it went in, less than a decade ago (Houston wasn’t sure exactly when), it obliterated the town. “Nobody lives there now,” she said.
So, as our former mayor goes country, here’s a bit of advice: You should probably stump only in towns that still exist. -- Eric Barton
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My father, Henry Harbison, always said he was born in Pumkin Center. He was born in 1901.
I have a friend here that was killed on 12/07/09. She had told me years ago that she was from pumpkin center and said it wasn't on the map. This was about 1977. We have no idea who her family was except that she was raped there and had a baby boy whom she raised and loved. She never disclosed or ever talked about siblings. We have no idea if she had brothers or sisters or any ralatives. She died alone except for her son who is the only living sibling. Her son is incarcerated. The person i am trying to find relatives for is Judi Pyle. If u have any info. Please e-mail me or call 303-316-9498. They did get the man who raped her this time, but this time she died 4 hours later from hypothermia. We are trying to get donations for a head stone for this wonderful person so that she is not forgotten. If u can get any information please contact me. Dolores Carter 303-316-9498. This man was convicted to life in prison but no one was there for Judi Pyle in the court room.
Punkin Center "a seedy little place" has great memories (as do all our home towns!) and pride in our past is very alive and well here. Were it not for the folks in the grassroots areas shere would any of us be? Think twice---and then again--- before you think we don't matter in the scheme of things.
Hate to rain on Mr. Glorioso's parade, but the folks around Pumpkin Center are on the Barnard mail route - Maitland is 12 miles west, with the Graham Post Office between them and Pumpkin Center. Perhaps he needs to spend a little time with local maps - small town names are important to their residents, and woe to the political candidate who mixes them up when speaking in the area!
I am from Pumpkin Center. I grew up there and moved to Kansas City about 17 years ago. I lived 2 miles west. We used to stop for gas and run in for a candy bar at Collins Corner (the name of the gas station there). There was at one time two gas stations and I believe a hardware store and lumber yard, etc. MoDOT offered to relocate Collins Corner, but Wayne Collins, the owner, decided to go ahead and retire. Many of the folks that live around there, miss sitting around, drinking coffee and talking about the crops and the weather. Its where we would have the best grilled tenderloin in the country, drink Pepsi or Mountain Dew with Cashews in it, and find out all the local gossip.
Its sad to see it go, but such is progress. I am not really sure that this town was ever incorporated, but anybody from NW Missouri knows where Pumpkin Center is; however, with the gas station gone for almost a decade, there will be fewer people that remember. Our former Mayor is right to be proud of her roots as there are wonderful people from this area.
KMBC Channel 9 picked up this story on its Web site yesterday. Check out the video, which includes a clip of Barnes giving a shout out to "Punkin' Center."
My grandfather and his brothers were born and/or raised in Punkin Center, MO. Several are buried in Barnard cemetary. We visit Punkin Center whenever we drive by on 71, even though that means pulling off the highway and onto a gravel road to get out and enjoy the scenery.
Having been a Republican most of my life, it is petty, stupid comments about a decent, well-meaning candidate like Kaye Barnes that has forced me to now welcome the Independant lable, with the intention of voting in the candidates that will work with others, not against them!
Thanks for helping Mr. Graves lose another vote!
There is, in fact, a Punkin Center in Dunklin County, but I don't believe Ms. Barnes hails from here.
36.21.11.60 N, 89.58.58.44 W
FWIW, Punkin Center is 3 miles Southwest of Peach Orchard and 2 miles North of Sumach.
Anyone originally from northwest Missouri knows where Pumpkin Center was and is. Sure when they four laned US 71 it cut through the heart of town but it still exists. Does Sam Graves know where Pumpkin Center is? How about White Cloud, Clyde or Conception?
I was with Kay yesterday when she spoke with people in Maryville and I think that it is worth mentioning that when Kay spoke of Pumpkin (Punkin) Center there was a sigh of acknowledgment from several people in the group who had either lived in Pumpkin Center before its demise or had family roots there. I am uploading a photo here of the sign that is still adorning the side of the highway. It may not be a town that is acknowledged by the U.S. Census, but according to the residents of the communities surrounding "Punkin" Center, it is still a town worth mentioning.
Here's an e-mail response to this piece from Barnes' right-hand-man Steve Glorioso:
Enjoyed the Pitch's piece on old PC. However, Kay took a picture yesterday on her way to Maryville of the home in which her mother, Helen, was born IN Pumkin Center or as some in the area say, Punkin Center. There is still a family living in the house. PC shows on a map and some families still live there, even though the "town" was pushed aside for a highway as you reported.
There are still residents of the town just not as many as when Helen Morford was born. Evidently there is still a sign on the highway, but the remaining population like the family in Helen's childhood home now officially live in Maitland.
Steve Glorioso
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