Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Barnard

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Barnard

Barnard dates to 1870, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the John and Fannie Fields House. Below: maps from 1927 on and the census since 1880.

1870founded
1on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: SamuelNelsonGISP · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Barnard began, and where its name came from

When was Barnard founded?

1870

Barnard dates its founding to 1870 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 424 in 18802020 census: 201156 years

How did Barnard get its name?

The city was named for a railroad superintendent named Barnard, though the exact name is in dispute, either J. F. Barnard or B. F. Barnard.

Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1871. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Barnard’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 Barnard are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Barnard’s homes were built before 1950.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barnard’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barnard’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

How Barnard came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Barnard.

Read it all →

Barnard was platted on April 10, 1870. The city was named for a railroad superintendent named Barnard, though the exact name is in dispute, either J. F. Barnard or B. F. Barnard. Originally the post office was in nearby Prairie Park, but in 1871 it moved to Barnard.

A human skeleton 12 ft 0 in (3.66 m) tall with ribs nearly 4 ft (1.2 m) long found near Barnard, Missouri, on September 13, 1883.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Barnard in 1882

Passages that mention Barnard, cut from the printed page as they were published.

was reared at his birthplace, receiving a common school education. In 1867 he crossed the ocean and landed at Quebec, first settling in the Province of Ontario, Canada, where he remained until May, 1870, when he came to St. Joseph, Missouri. From there he went to Barnard, Nodaway County, where he m…
The history of Nodaway county, Missouri, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens1882 · page 624Read the page →
Read the text

was reared at his birthplace, receiving a common school education. In 1867 he crossed the ocean and landed at Quebec, first settling in the Province of Ontario, Canada, where he remained until May, 1870, when he came to St. Joseph, Missouri. From there he went to Barnard, Nodaway County, where he made his home for nine months, working on the railroad. In December, 1870, he came to Hopkins, and has continued the railroad business since. In 1874 he purchased his farm and moved his family thereon. It is situated one mile south of town, and contains

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
This church had a preliminary organization in the country, two miles west of Barnard, at a place called Salem. It was re-organized in the year 1870 at Barnard, by Elder Sherwood, of St. Joseph. The members at the time of the re-organization were as follows : J. C. McCandliss and wife, James Giffin …
The history of Nodaway county, Missouri, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens1882 · page 163Read the page →
Read the text

This church had a preliminary organization in the country, two miles west of Barnard, at a place called Salem. It was re-organized in the year 1870 at Barnard, by Elder Sherwood, of St. Joseph. The members at the time of the re-organization were as follows : J. C. McCandliss and wife, James Giffin and wife, Wm. Giffin, Samuel Stonehocker and wife, Mrs. S. McFarland, Mrs. C. C. Baker, Mr. C. House and wife,

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Barnard, 1870 to 1927

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870
    FoundingBarnard is established
  3. 1871Post officeThe Barnard post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Barnard, decade by decade

Today3 recent
SouthNodawaySchool2025SouthNodawaySchoolBarnard Missouri2024Barnard MissouriMOMap-doton-Barnard2004MOMap-doton-Barnard
On the map

Barnard on the map, 1927 to 1984

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

Barnard on the 1927 USGS mapBarnard on the 1945 USGS mapBarnard on the 1984 USGS map1927Bolckow 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 Barnard.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Barnard

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2019
John and Fannie Fields House
John and Fannie Fields House
Buildings
All 1 listings
John and Fannie Fields HouseBuilding · listed 2019

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Barnard, census by census

010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 427

Between 201 and 427 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Barnard’s history

What year was Barnard founded?

In 1870, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Barnard’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1880 counted 424 people here.

What is on the National Register in Barnard?

One place: the John and Fannie Fields House (listed 2019).

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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.