Watson Building Hotel - Boley, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 29.531 W 096° 29.026
14S E 728251 N 3930537
This ghost sign reading "HOTEL" speaks of better days gone by.
Waymark Code: WMYBFR
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 05/25/2018
Views: 1
The ground floor of the Watson Building was constructed in 1915 and has a centered entry flanked by display windows, which are boarded up today. The side walls were built of sandstone. The building then was occupied as a grocery. In 1920, a second level was added, built of brick. This level was a hotel. In 1975 when the building was placed on the National Register, the upper floor was still occupied as an American Legion hotel. Today, it is vacant, and the building is just a shell. A ghost sign can be seen on the upper wall reading "HOTEL".
The town of Boley was one of the all-black towns, and was established in 1903. It flourished until the 1920's and 1930's when crops failed and the Depression drove people away. Today, the downtown is pretty much vacant, and this hotel is just a memory for the older generation in town.
