Editing Boley, Oklahoma (section)

===Town founding===
[[File:Boley Town Council circa 1907.jpg|thumb|Boley town council {{circa|1907}}. {{break}}Thomas Haynes, wearing the light colored jacket, is in the first row, third from the right. Standing beside Haynes, with his hands in his pockets, is David Turner.]]
[[File:J.B. Boley, namesake of Boley, Oklahoma, in 1902.png|thumb|Photograph of J. B. Boley {{circa|1902}}.]]
The principal founder of Boley was Thomas M. Haynes.<ref name="stuckey">{{cite journal |last1=Stuckey |first1=Melissa |title=Boley, Indian Territory: Exercising Freedom in the All-Black Town |journal=The Journal of African American History |date=2017 |volume=102 |issue=4 |pages=492–516 |doi=10.5323/jafriamerhist.102.4.0492}}</ref> Lake Moore, a white speculator, contributed the initial $500 investment needed to lease Barnett's land for five years. Another influential figure was the town's namesake, J. B.  Boley, a white official of the [[Fort Smith and Western Railway|Fort Smith & Western Railroad]] who oversaw the development of a depot in the middle of Boley.<ref name="EOHC-Boley"/><ref name="horcher">{{cite web |last1=Horcher |first1=Gary |title=Boley |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1999/08/07/boley/62233167007/ |publisher=The Oklahoman |access-date=13 February 2025}}</ref> After being approved for a [[United States Post Office Department|post office]] two months prior in July, the town officially opened for settlement on September 26, 1903.<ref name="stuckeydiss">{{cite thesis |last=Stuckey|first=Melissa N.|year=2009|title= All Men Up: Race, Rights, and Power in the All-Black Town of Boley, Oklahoma, 1903-1939 |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=Yale University}}</ref>

One of the most influential early settlers in Boley was David J. Turner, a businessman who would, besides serving as town mayor and councilman on multiple occasions, also work as a bank president and pharmacist.<ref name="stuckeydiss" /> Another important settler was Hilliard Taylor, who developed a thriving [[cotton gin]]ning business.<ref name="stuckey" />

The development of the railroad brought traffic and 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, Oklahoma|Paden]] and [[Castle, Oklahoma|Castle]], and ideal for a station stop.  With the approval of the railroad management, Boley, [[Creek Nation]], [[Indian Territory]] was incorporated in 1905. During the early part of the 20th century, Boley became a regional business hub and one of the wealthiest Black towns in the US. It boasted two banks,<ref name="BlackHistory">{{cite web | url= https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/black-history-month-boley-once-boasted-more-than-residents/article_bd9b4436-e7fc-55cd-a142-5f4d1c953c78.html| title= Black History Month: Boley once boasted more than 4,000 residents | date= February 4, 2020 | publisher= Tim Stanley, Tulsa World, February 4, 2020 | access-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref> including the first nationally-chartered Black-owned bank, three cotton gins,<ref name="BlackHistory"/> its own electric company,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.boley-ok.com/B3.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080412070255/http://www.boley-ok.com/B3.html|url-status=dead|title=Boley, Oklahoma, C. Sharp & Associates Inc., 2000|archivedate=April 12, 2008|accessdate=July 25, 2021}}</ref> a movie theater, hotels, and multiple legal and [[dentistry]] practices.<ref name="BWST" /> The town had over 4,000 residents by 1911, and was the home of two colleges: Creek-Seminole College, and Methodist Episcopal College. The [[Freemasonry|Masonic Lodge]] was called "the tallest building between Okmulgee and Oklahoma City," when it was built in 1912.<ref name="EOHC-Boley"/>