Skullyville (also spelled Scullyville) is an unincorporated rural community in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is approximately one mile east of Spiro and southwest of Fort Smith, Arkansas. The community is within the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The name is derived from Iskuli, the Choctaw word for money, because originally this was the place where members collected their annuity payments at the Choctaw Agency.
History
It was capital of the Choctaw Nation, capital of the Moshulatubbee District of the Choctaw Nation, and in the late 1850s a stop for the Butterfield Stage. It developed as a political and business center of the nation before the Civil War. Skullyville was the site of the Choctaw Agency from 1832 until 1839.
During the Civil War, after the Choctaw allied with the Confederacy, the town suffered serious damage in warfare. Afterward, the town was bypassed by construction of a new railroad in the area, and it was abandoned by businessmen who moved to the nearest railroad station. In 1917, closure of the post office marked the final decline of the community. It is now considered a ghost town, and little more than the cemetery remains.
The Choctaw Indian agency was built on this site in 1832, after the federal government conducted removal of the tribe to Indian Territory. The US Indian agent distributed annuity payments here, and a trading and business community developed around the post. Until 1859, after unification of the three districts of the Nation, the community was officially called "Choctaw Agency". Major F. W. Armstrong served as the first US agent until his death in 1835. He was succeeded by his brother, William Armstrong.<!-- Reportedly, both were very well liked by the Choctaws.-->
The Choctaw designated Skullyville, then known as "Oak Lodge", as county seat of Skullyville County, the capital of the Moshulatubbee District of the Nation, and as the capital of the Choctaw Nation. It also served as a stop on the California Road. Walker's Station, a stage stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route, was located in Skullyville. Unusually for the Choctaw Nation's county governments, an extant building from its time as county seat has survived: the Skullyville County Jail.
The name "Skullyville" is derived from iskulli or iskuli, the Choctaw word for money. This was the place where tribal members could collect their annuity payments at the Choctaw Agency. Author W. B. Morrison suggests that the English meaning of Skullyville was "Moneytown".