[4] Boley was incorporated in 1905 as a predominantly Black pioneer town with persons having Native American ancestry among its citizens.

[5] Boley is currently home to barbeque equipment maker, Smokaroma, Inc, and the John Lilley Correctional Center.

After the American Civil War, the United States negotiated new treaties with tribes that allied with the Confederacy.

The town was established on the land allotted to Abigail Barnett-McCormick, daughter of James Barnett, a Creek freedman.

Property owned by the Barnett family, among other Creek Freedmen, was midway between Paden and Castle, and ideal for a station stop.

"[14] Bradley promoted an "emancipationist vision" of Boley, portraying the town as a place where Black southerners could escape discrimination and finally enjoy a real freedom to serve as "business men, farmers, merchants, and wage workers," free from the antagonism of hostile white mobs.

[14] Subscribers across the South were informed about Boley's local economy, population growth, political structure, elections, and more.

Most notably, in the fall of 1905, Bradley's Progress persuaded Joe P. Thompson, a devout reader from Rusk, Texas, to organize approximately fifty Black families from his community to emigrate to the area around Boley.

Boley became notorious for its sundown town signage, subverting whites-only norms, for reading, "White man, don't let the sun set on you here.

Historically, the solidly-Republican black population of Boley held the balance of political power in Okfuscee County, as nearby white towns were split between the two parties.

Named for J.B. Boley, white roadmaster, who convinced Fort Smith & Western Railroad that blacks could govern themselves.

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

The District is roughly bounded by Seward Avenue, Walnut and Cedar Streets, and the southern city limits of Boley.

Preview materials note: "When E. P. McCabe came to Oklahoma in the 1889 Land Run his vision was to create an All-Black state.

Nowhere else, neither in the Deep South nor the Far West, did so many African American men and women come together to create, occupy, and govern their own communities.

Boley, Brooksville, Clearview, Grayson, Langston, Lima, Red Bird, Rentiesville, Taft, Tatums, Tullahassee, Summit, and Vernon are the towns highlighted in this exhibit.

"[38] In 2019, the entertainment news site deadline.com reported: "A remarkable, little known slice of Black American history is coming to light with Boley, a premium event series in development at Universal Television from writer Dianne Houston (When We Rise, Empire, Take the Lead) and producer Rudy Langlais (The Hurricane, Sugar Hill).

The article notes: "The rich legacy of this revolutionary all-Black town and this infamous battle as the backdrop for the limited series, which has been a passion project for Langlais and Universal TV President Pearlena Igbokwe for two decades.

"[39] In a 2017 interview, historian Currie Ballard told The Oklahoman: “Boley was once the crown jewel of all the black towns in Oklahoma...Booker T. Washington came to Boley … twice and deemed it the finest black town in the world — and Booker T. Washington had literally been all around the world.