Boswell, OK

Boswell is a small, quiet community in southeastern Oklahoma, sitting right along U.S. 70 about 20 miles west of Hugo. Home to around 700 people, the town originally began as Mayhew, an 1830s Choctaw settlement located a couple of miles north. Mayhew grew into a regional administrative and judicial center with an early Presbyterian church and mission school. When the Arkansas and Choctaw Railway laid tracks nearby in 1902, residents and local businesses moved south to be right on the line, renaming the town Boswell after the railroad surveyor.

ATTRMichael Barera / CC BY-SA 4.0

That move quickly turned Boswell into a bustling trade depot for surrounding cotton farms and cattle ranches. Life here moves at a much calmer pace today, anchored by a friendly community and long-standing traditions like the annual Boswell Homecoming, which has gathered locals and returning families every year since 1937. With quick highway access, peaceful rural surroundings, and fishing spots around Boswell Lake, the town offers a relaxed small-town lifestyle with deep historical roots.