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History · Barrie Township

Barrie Township’s post office opened in 1878, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1895 on.

1878first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Barrie Township began

When was Barrie Township founded?

1878

The Barrie Township post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Barrie (1878), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 178148 years
Founding year: the first Barrie Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Barrie 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 Barrie Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18953 editions of the USGS map, 1895 to 1986. Watch Barrie Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barrie Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barrie 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
On the map

Barrie Township on the map, 1895 to 1986

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

Barrie Township on the 1895 USGS mapBarrie Township on the 1960 USGS mapBarrie Township on the 1986 USGS map1895Casselton 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 Barrie Township.

The story so far

Barrie Township, in brief

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

Its first post office opened in 1878. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 191 to 178 (-7%).

Timeline

Barrie Township, 1878 to 1907

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Barrie post office opens
  3. 1895On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907Post officeThe Barrie 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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Barrie, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Barrie
1cemetery inside Barrie Township
Barrie

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Helendale TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townViking TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWalcott TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Barrie Township’s history

What year was Barrie Township founded?

The Barrie Township post office opened in 1878, 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.