Piney is a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 in Adair County

Adair County, Oklahoma

Adair County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 22,638. Its county seat is Stilwell. Adair County was named after the Adair family of the Cherokee tribe.-History:...

, Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, USA. It was established in 1824 and served as the capital

Capital City

Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....

 of the Cherokee Nation

Cherokee Nation

The Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...

 from 1824-1828, when the town was part of what was then Arkansas Territory

Arkansas Territory

The Territory of Arkansas, initially organized as the Territory of Arkansaw, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1819 until June 15, 1836, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Arkansas.-History:The...

. Piney, named for the Piney River, is located in the Boston Mountains

Boston Mountains

The Boston Mountains area is a high and deeply dissected plateau located in northern Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. The Oklahoma portion of the range is locally referred to as the Cookson Hills. The rocks of the region are essentially little disturbed, flat-lying sedimentary layers of the Paleozoic...

.

The town reached its largest size about 1916. It had a general store, where the post office was located; a gristmill

Gristmill

The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...

; a blacksmith's shop; and a school, which is now used a community building. Some residents still live in the area.

A Baptist missionary, Duncan O'Bryant came to Piney. He died in 1834 and his grave is in Piney.

Piney had a post office from November 24, 1913 to August 20, 1921. In 1828, the borders of the state of Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

 were drawn, so the Cherokee Nation capital was moved to Tahlonteeskee

Tahlonteeskee

Tahlonteeskee, is the name of several Cherokee, and one Creek Indian, during the period of the Chickamauga Wars. The name, , has been translated as "The Disturber" or "The Upsetter"....

, and most of the Cherokee residents migrated to Indian Territory

Indian Territory

The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...

. The town, however, continued until 1940.