On plains where Native Americans once hunted vast herds of buffalo, a country general store called Wellington Corner sprang up at this location in 1921. The first building, which became the ice house, was constructed by Luther and Anna Gage. The store bordered a section-line dirt trail used by horse drawn wagons and buggies and an occasional automobile. A private highway association promoting a tourist road from the East to Yellowstone National Park included the unimproved trail as part of the route and named the road the Custer Battlefield Highway. The State Highway Commission designated the trail as U.S. Highway 16 in 1926. After heavy rains, state crews used horse drawn drags to level ruts and washboards. Drainage culverts were installed in 1928, and the trail was graded and graveled for the first time. In 1931, concrete paving began, and in June the first five mile stretch of the newly paved highway, running in both directions from the store now known as Pumpkin Center, was opened to public use. A pavement dance held on the highway in front of the store to celebrate the event was monitored by federal G-men to discourage bootleggers while Prohibition was in effect. As auto traffic increased, the small general store also became a gasoline filling station. During the 1930s, a new car dealership created a need for a repair garage and a body shop, and scheduled bus and freight service eventually became available. Pumpkin Center was a gathering place to drink coffee and visit, a landmark for meeting and carpooling, and at times a safe haven for winter travelers halted by deep snow or blinding blizzards. In the 1930s, community activities there included softball and baseball tournaments, and the store sponsored its own team, the River Rats. For many years picnic tables surrounding the small cluster of buildings hosted vacationers in spring and summer and pheasant hunters in the fall. During World War II the store served as a Red Cross Station. The store, the last of the related enterprises to close, finally shut down in 1993. The naming of Pumpkin Center is uncertain, but the name endured, and for decades the phrase "I'll meet you at Pumpkin Center" was common. As one of the last early way stops that accompanied the development of the automobile and the expansion of transportation, it helped define an era in the evolving history of Minnehaha County.