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History · Barnes

Barnes’ post office opened in 1877, and 69% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1889 on and the census since 1880.

1877first post office
0on the National Register
69%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Barnes began, and where its name came from

When was Barnes founded?

1877

The Barnes post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Elm Grove (1872), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 32 in 18802020 census: 165149 years

How did Barnes get its name?

It was renamed Barnes in 1876 in honor of A. S. Barnes, a stockholder of the Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad Barnes was a station and shipping point on the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

Founding year: the first Barnes post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Barnes’ 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 Barnes are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18893 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1986. Watch Barnes change.Old housesHalf of Barnes’ homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 454 in 1910; 165 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barnes’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Barnes on the map, 1889 to 1986

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

Barnes on the 1889 USGS mapBarnes on the 1894 USGS mapBarnes on the 1986 USGS map1889Marysville sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Barnes came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Barnes.

Read it all →

Barnes was originally called Elm Grove when it was founded in 1870. It was renamed Barnes in 1876 in honor of A. S. Barnes, a stockholder of the Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad

Barnes was a station and shipping point on the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Barnes, 1872 to 1913

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Elm Grove post office opens
  3. 1877Post officeThe Elm Grove post office closes
  4. 1877Post officeThe Barnes post office opens
  5. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1898Born hereDorothy Thomas is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 454
  9. 1913Born hereJoe Vogler is born here
By decade

Barnes, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Barnes, Kansas welcome sign and kingpost bridge 12015Barnes, Kansas welcome sign and kingpost bridge 1KSMap-doton-Barnes2005KSMap-doton-Barnes
People over time

Barnes, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 454

Peaked at 454 in 1910; 165 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Barnes’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Barnes

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Joe VoglerAlaskan politician · b. 1913
D
Dorothy ThomasAmerican author and diarist · b. 1898
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Barnes’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Elm Grove, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Elm Grove
1872–1877
Barnes
1877–today
18701950today

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

Questions about Barnes’ history

What year was Barnes founded?

The Barnes post office opened in 1877, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.