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History · Barnett

Barnett’s post office opened in 1880, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1910.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
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Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Barnett began

When was Barnett founded?

1880

The Barnett post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Stone House (1858) and Barnettsville (1875), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 118 in 19102020 census: 158146 years
Founding year: the first Barnett post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Barnett’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 Barnett are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 242 in 1930; 158 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Barnett.Old housesHalf of Barnett’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barnett’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barnett’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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People over time

Barnett, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 242

Peaked at 242 in 1930; 158 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Barnett’s post office has been open since 1880. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Stone House
1858–1875
Barnettsville
1875–1880
Barnett
1880–today
18501940today

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

The story

How Barnett came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Barnett.

Read it all →

Variant names were "Stone House" and "Barnetsville". A post office called Stone House was established in 1858, and the name was changed to Barnetsville in 1875. For a brief period of time, the name was Marysville, after a citizen named Mary Justice. The name changed to Barnett in 1880, when the town was rebuilt following a tornado. The present name is after one Mr. Barnet, an early settler.

The Jesse Ratcliff House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Barnett, 1858 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Stone House post office opens
  3. 1875Post officeThe Stone House post office closes
  4. 1875Post officeThe Barnettsville post office opens
  5. 1880Post officeThe Barnettsville post office closes
  6. 1880Post officeThe Barnett post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 242
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.

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On the map

Barnett on the map, 1904 to 1960

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

Barnett on the 1904 USGS mapBarnett on the 1960 USGS map1904Eldon 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 Barnett.

Questions about Barnett’s history

What year was Barnett founded?

The Barnett post office opened in 1880, 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 →
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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 Wikipedia, 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.