Boley, Oklahoma

Boley, Oklahoma
Town
Boley 100th Birthday Rodeo & Bar-B-Q Festival
Location of Boley, Oklahoma
Coordinates: 35°29′34″N 96°28′54″W / 35.49278°N 96.48167°W / 35.49278; -96.48167Coordinates: 35°29′34″N 96°28′54″W / 35.49278°N 96.48167°W / 35.49278; -96.48167
Country	United States
State	Oklahoma
County	Okfuskee
Area
• Total	1.6 sq mi (4.3 km2)
• Land	1.6 sq mi (4.3 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	892 ft (272 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	1,126
• Density	684.6/sq mi (264.3/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	74829
Area code(s)	539/918
FIPS code	40-07500[1]
GNIS feature ID	1090385[2]

Boley is a town in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,126 at the 2000 census. It was founded in 1903.

The Boley Public School District is one of the smallest public school districts in the state of Oklahoma. For the most recent data available, it tied with Sweetwater for the smallest high school with 15 students. For a combined district, K-12, Boley finished first, just ahead of Clarita (58) and Sweetwater (60), with 51 students.^[3] Boley is also home to BBQ equipment maker, Smokaroma, Inc, and the John Lilley Correctional Center. The Boley Historic District is a National Historic Landmark.^[4][5] Currently Boley hosts The Annual Boley Rodeo & Bar-B-Que Festival.^[6]

History

This area was settled by Creek Freedmen, whose ancestors had been held as slaves of the Creek at the time of Indian Removal in the 1830s. After the American Civil War, the United States negotiated new treaties with tribes that allied with the Confederacy. It required them to emancipate their slaves and give them membership in the tribes. Those formerly slaves were called the Creek Freedmen. At the time of allotments to individual households under the Dawes Commission, Creek Freedmen were registered as such on the Dawes Rolls (even if they were of mixed-race and also descended directly from Creek ancestors.) Creek Freedmen set up independent townships, of which Boley was one.

The coming of the Fort Smith & Western Railroad allowed agricultural land to be more profitably used as a townsite. Property owned by the Barnett family, among other Creek Freedmen, was midway between Paden and Castle, and ideal for a station stop. With the approval of the railroad management, Boley, Creek Nation, Indian Territory was created. As there were no other African-American towns nearby, it became a center of regional business. During the early part of the 20th century, Boley was one of the wealthiest Negro towns in the US. It boasted the first nationally chartered bank owned by blacks, and its own electric company.^[7] Booker T. Washington visited Boley in 1905, and was so impressed that he included Boley in his speeches.

Boley's development paralleled that of the railroad. After World War I, a fall in agricultural prices and the bankruptcy of the railroad caused Boley's failure. It went bankrupt in 1939 during the Great Depression. With the Second Great Migration underway, by 1960 most of the population had left for other urban areas.^[8][9] So far the New Great Migration has not benefited Boley.

Timeline

• 1903 Founding
• 1905 Booker T. Washington tours the newly incorporated Boley. Newspaper The Boley Progress starts publication.^[10]
• 1907 Oklahoma becomes a state. Although by 1897 Oklahoma law required black children to be educated separately from white children, with statehood the legislature passed Jim Crow laws similar to those in much of the South. Oklahoma was no longer a refuge for colored people from Jim Crow.^[11]
• 1911 Facts about Boley, Okla. the largest and wealthiest exclusive Negro city in the world. (Boley, OK: Commercial Club, 1911^[12]
• 1922 "Produced in the All-Colored City of Boley, Okla." The Crimson Skull; Baffling Western Mystery Photo-Play, starring Bill Pickett, was an example of the race movie genre.^[13]
• 1925, State Training School for Incorrigible Negro Boys was located in Boley; it would become the John Lilley Correctional Center.
• 1926 The Boley Progress ceases publication.
• 1932 Armed citizens of Boley thwart a bank robbery attempt by members of Pretty Boy Floyd's gang.^[14]
• 1934 30th Anniversary Celebration^[15]
• 1939 Fort Smith & Western Railroad and Boley go bankrupt.
• 1959 Smokaroma founded.
• 1961 First of the Annual Boley Rodeo & Bar-B-Que Festivals.
• 1975 Boley National Historic District given landmark status.

Inscription on Oklahoma Historical Society plaque honoring Boley

Boley, Oklahoma Est. August 1903 - Inc. May 1905 Boley, Creek Nation, I.T., Established as all black town on land of Creek Indian Freedwoman Abigail Barnett. Organized by T.M. Hayes first townsite manager. Named for J.B. Boley, white roadmaster, who convinced Fort Smith & Western Railroad that blacks could govern themselves. This concept soon boosted population to 4,200. Declared National Historic Landmark District by Congress 5-15-1975. Oklahoma Historical Society ^[16]

Quotations about Boley from Booker T. Washington

"They have recovered something of the knack for trade that their fore-parents in Africa were famous for".^[8]

"Boley, Indian Territory, is the youngest, most enterprising, and in many ways the most interesting of the Negro towns in the US."^[17]

Notable natives

• Cardell Camper, major league baseball player
• Pumpsie Green - baseball player, first African American to play for the Boston Red Sox
• Zenobia Powell Perry - composer^[18]

Geography

Boley is located at 35°29′34″N 96°28′54″W / 35.49278°N 96.48167°W / 35.49278; -96.48167 (35.492813, -96.481776)^[19]. The cemetery is located south west of the town.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 1,126 people, 136 households, and 79 families residing in the town. The population density was 684.6 people per square mile (265.1/km²). There were 153 housing units at an average density of 93.0 per square mile (36.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 35.61% White, 54.71% African American, 4.97% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 1.51% from other races, and 3.11% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.11% of the population.

There were 136 households out of which 18.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.8% were married couples living together, 19.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.9% were non-families. 36.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the town the population was spread out with 7.6% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 51.0% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 7.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 407.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 490.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $16,042, and the median income for a family was $27,500. Males had a median income of $21,875 versus $20,625 for females. The per capita income for the town was $9,304. About 25.0% of families and 40.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 48.5% of those under age 18 and 20.3% of those age 65 or over.

See also

• Boley Historic District

• Brooksville, Clearview, Grayson, Langston, Lima, Red Bird, Rentiesville, Summit, Taft, Tatums, Tullahassee, and Vernon, other "All-Black" settlements that were part of the Land Run of 1889.^[20]

References

External links

• History of Boley on The African American Registry
• Black heritage sites, Boley Historic District, By Nancy C. Curtis
• Oklahoma Historical Society, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture, Boley
• Boley cemetery index from rootsweb
• History of Boley published 1945 from rootsweb
• NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM including a history and inventory of historic buildings
• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Boley
• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - All-Black Towns

v t e Municipalities and communities of Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, United States County seat: Okemah City Okemah Towns Bearden Boley Castle Clearview IXL Paden Weleetka Unincorporated communities Clearview Last Chance Mason Micawber Morse Okfuskee Pharoah Welty