Piney, Oklahoma

Piney is a census-designated place (CDP) in Adair County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 115 at the 2010 census. Piney was the "head town" of the first wave of relocated Cherokee people (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) of the Cherokee Nation–West from 1824 to 1828. The town was located on the lands of Lovely's Purchase, that straddled what was to become the Indian Territory—Arkansas state line. 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 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, although some residents still live in the area (2011).

Geography
Piney is located in eastern Adair County, 1 mi west of the Arkansas border. The Piney CDP has a total area of 11.9 km2, of which 11.7 sqkm is land and 0.2 sqkm, or 1.32%, is water.