Piney is a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
(CDP) in
Adair County,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, United States. The population was 115 at the
2010 census.
Piney was the "head town" of the first wave of relocated
Cherokee people
The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
(the "Old Settlers") who relocated there from their ancestral homelands in the southeastern United States.
History
Piney was established in the
Arkansaw Territory, in 1824, as the head town of the Cherokee in the West. It served as the
council seat (informal
capital
Capital and its variations may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital
** List of national capitals
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter
Econom ...
) of the
Cherokee Nation–West from 1824 to 1828. The town was located on the lands of
Lovely's Purchase
Lovely's Purchase, also called Lovely's Donation, was part of the Missouri Territory and the Arkansas Territory of the early nineteenth century. It was created in 1817, to give a haven to the Cherokee and other Native Americans who were bein ...
, that straddled what was to become the
Indian Territory
Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...
—
Arkansas state
Arkansas State University (A-State or ASU) is a public research university in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States. It is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System and the second-largest university in the state. The university ...
line.
[''Ghost Towns of Oklahoma'']
Morris, John Wesley; Norman, OK; University of Oklahoma Press; 1978; ; accessed November 2015 In 1828, the eastern border of the Indian Territory was finally drawn (running just one mile east of the settlement), and the old Arkansaw Territory was split into two. A permanent Cherokee Nation capital city was also being built in the more centrally located
Tahlonteeskee (in
Sequoyah County,) located deeper in the new Indian Territory. Most of the Cherokee residents of Piney soon migrated further west into their designated districts in the Indian Territory following the split. A Baptist missionary, Duncan O'Bryant, who had served in Piney for a time, remained behind. He died in 1834 and his grave is located there.
[
Piney had a post office from November 24, 1913, to August 20, 1921. The town reached its largest size ''circa'' 1916. It had a general store (where the post office was located); a ]gristmill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...
; a blacksmith's shop; and a school, which is now used as a community building. The incorporated town continued until 1940.[ The original settlement of Piney is now considered a ]ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
, although some residents still live in the area (2011).[
]
Geography
Piney is located in eastern Adair County, west of the Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
border. The Piney CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.32%, is water.
Demographics
See also
* List of ghost towns in Oklahoma
The U.S. state of Oklahoma has an estimated two thousand ghost towns. These towns began for a number of reasons, often as liquor towns, boomtowns, or mining towns, with some pre-dating statehood. The population and activity later declined in ...
References
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Census-designated places in Adair County, Oklahoma
Census-designated places in Oklahoma
Ghost towns in Oklahoma
Geography of Adair County, Oklahoma
Cherokee towns in Oklahoma