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History · Barry

Barry’s post office opened in 1881, and 57% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 1910.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
57%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Barry began

When was Barry founded?

1881

The Barry post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 105 in 19102020 census: 16145 years
Founding year: the first Barry post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Barry’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 Barry are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Barry’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barry’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barry’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
The story so far

Barry, in brief

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

Barry is a city in northern Big Stone County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 16 at the 2020 census. Minnesota State Highway 28 serves as a main route in the community.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 16 in 2010, 16 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Barry, 1881 to 1985

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Barry post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1985Post officeThe Barry post office closes
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

Barry on the map, 1916 to 1974

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

Barry on the 1916 USGS mapBarry on the 1974 USGS map1916Beardsley 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 Barry.

People over time

Barry, census by census

0100192019401960198020002020Peak: 116

Between 16 and 116 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Barry

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

See all →
Jack ConwayAmerican film director and actor · b. 1887
Madeleine BordalloGuamanian politician · b. 1933
B
Bill DavisAmerican baseball player · b. 1942
Tom KellyAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1950
C
Charles A. BergAmerican politician · b. 1927
M
Maureen OwenAmerican poet · b. 1943
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Barry had its own post office from 1881 to 1985.

Barry
1881–1985
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Barry Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Barry’s history

What year was Barry founded?

The Barry post office opened in 1881, 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, 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.