Boley Historic District

Boley is one of the most important historically Black towns in Oklahoma. Founded in the Creek Nation during the early twentieth century, it grew into a prosperous community with banks, businesses, newspapers, churches and schools run largely by African American residents. At its height, Boley became a symbol of Black economic and political possibility during the Jim Crow era. Booker T. Washington visited and praised the town, and its growth drew national attention. The community later faced economic decline, but significant buildings and institutions survive. Boley's history also includes the 1932 confrontation with Pretty Boy Floyd's gang, when townspeople and law enforcement resisted a bank robbery. That episode adds an unexpected outlaw-history layer to an already important Black-town story. Walking or driving the historic district reveals surviving commercial buildings and civic landmarks that help visitors imagine Boley at its peak. The town is best understood not as a failed experiment but as evidence of what Black Oklahomans built under conditions designed to restrict their opportunities.