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History · Barr Township

Barr Township’s post office opened in 1895, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1932 on.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Barr Township began

When was Barr Township founded?

1895

The Barr Township post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Barr's Store (1850) and Barr (1895), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 314131 years
Founding year: the first Barr Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Barr Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Barr Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Barr Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barr Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barr Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Barr's Store
1850–1895
Barr
1895–1905
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Barr
Gone or out of use
Asbury ChurchchurchGoshen SchoolschoolMaxfield SchoolschoolMount Regan SchoolschoolRibble AirportairportVictory SchoolschoolWashington Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Barr Township
A M SolomonMillerSolomon G OStultsWitt

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Barr Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Barr Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Barr is an unincorporated community in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. Barr is 6 miles (9.7 km) southwest of Palmyra. An post office was established on August 8, 1850.

Its first post office opened in 1895. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 329 to 314 (-5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Barr Township, 1850 to 1932

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Barr's Store post office opens
  3. 1895Post officeThe Barr's Store post office closes
  4. 1895Post officeThe Barr post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905Post officeThe Barr post office closes
  7. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Barr Township on the map, 1932 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Barr Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Barr Township on the 1932 USGS mapBarr Township on the 1983 USGS map1932Greenfield sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Barr Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Barr Township

Nobody well known was born in Barr Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Eulabee DixAmerican artist · b. 1878
William H. HinrichsenAmerican politician · b. 1850
J
Joe McManusAmerican baseball player · b. 1887
W
Warren WrightAmerican politician · b. 1893
Y
Yank TandyAmerican football player · b. 1893
B
Bill BurghardtAmerican sports coach, athletics administrator,… · b. 1912
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

South Palmyra TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townScottville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWestern Mound Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRubicon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Barr Township’s history

What year was Barr Township founded?

The Barr Township post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.