Boley, Oklahoma

In November 1932 three members of Pretty Boy Floyd's gang tried to rob Boley's Farmers and Merchants Bank, though Floyd had warned his men off a town known to be well armed. Bank president David Turner sounded the alarm and was shot. Assistant cashier Herbert C. McCormick, hiding in the vault with a rifle, shot the leader, George Birdwell, and armed townspeople stopped the other two: one was wounded and arrested, the driver killed. Turner died on the way to the hospital in Okemah, and thousands came to his funeral. Accounts of the shooting conflict.

What the plaque says

Boley, Oklahoma Est. August, 1903 - Inc. May 11, 1905 Boley, Creek Nation, I.T., established as all Black town on land of Creek Indian "Freedwoman" Abigail Barnett. Organized by T.M. Haynes first town- site 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 act of Congress 5-15-75. Oklahoma Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Boley Historic District — 0.2 mi
  The downtown of the largest of Oklahoma's All-Black towns, praised by Booker T. Washington, squeezed by Jim Crow and white land oaths, bankrupt in 1939 and still living today.
• Seminole Nation Museum — 23 mi
  A community museum in Wewoka, capital of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, telling the Seminole story from Florida to Indian Territory and the town that John Horse's people founded in 1849.
• Citizen Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center — 28 mi
  The Citizen Potawatomi Nation's national museum and archive in Shawnee, telling a Great Lakes people's road through Kansas to Indian Territory in the Nation's own words and objects.

More markers nearby

• Boley — 0.4 mi
• Cromwell — 10 mi
• Birthplace of Jim Thorpe — 11 mi
• Birthsite of Jim Thorpe — 16 mi