Have you seen the giant pumpkin along Hwy 11? There's more to the story of Pumpkintown.

PUMPKINTOWN — En route to some of the state’s prolific peaks — Table Rock and Sassafras — along Scenic Highway 11 in the northern part of Pickens County, it’s hard to miss the shining metal siding of the obscurely placed Pumpkintown Mountain Opry. Not to mention the larger-than-life orange pumpkin whose door and windows invite passersby to stop and pop inside for a unique roadside photo opportunity. Without much context, it seems like that might be the extent of Pumpkintown.

It’s an unincorporated area of Pickens County that’s never had its own census designation or zip code. It’s one of the oldest villages in what settlers called the “upcountry” when they arrived in the mid-1700s — yet nobody is entirely sure how it got its name. Named for its gourds and founded on agriculture, Pumpkintown now gets a boost from tourists visiting area mountaintops and waterfalls.

Pumpkintown’s first settler was Cornelius Keith, who arrived in 1745 with his wife, baby, wagon and three ponies. When approached by the Cherokee people who inhabited the land, it’s said Keith traded one of his ponies with Chief Woolenoy for the land around the river. That river is now known as the Oolenoy River, and people who visit the Table Rock State Park Visitor’s Center have a prime view of Lake Oolenoy.

The geography of the land is tied tightly to its establishment and current existence. Keith likely chose to settle there as the hills reminded of his home in Scotland, and its hills .