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–Not graded
History · Barber

Barber’s post office opened in 1909

Most of Barber was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1898 on.

1909first post office
0on the National Register
0.7%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Barber began

When was Barber founded?

1909

The Barber post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 303117 years
Founding year: the first Barber post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Barber’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 Barber are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18983 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1972. Watch Barber change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barber’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barber’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

Barber on the map, 1898 to 1972

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

Barber on the 1898 USGS mapBarber on the 1901 USGS mapBarber on the 1972 USGS map1898Tahlequah 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 Barber.

The story so far

Barber, in brief

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

Barber is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, United States, in the Cherokee Nation. As of the 2020 census, Barber had a population of 303. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. The CDP is in southeastern Cherokee County, bordered to the north by Tenkiller, to the west by Caney Ridge, to the southwest by Dry Creek, and to the northeast by Rocky Mountain in Adair County. Oklahoma State Highway 100 passes through Barber, leading east 13 miles (21 km) to Stilwell and west 4 miles (6 km) to Highway 82 at Tenkiller Ferry Lake. Tahlequah is an additional 13 miles (21 km) to the northwest on Highway 82.

Its first post office opened in 1909.

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

Timeline

Barber, 1898 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909Post officeThe Barber post office opens
  5. 1954Post officeThe Barber 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 and burying grounds

Barber had its own post office from 1909 to 1954.

Barber
1909–1954
19001960today
1cemetery inside Barber
Barber

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.

Dry CreekIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTenkillerIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCaney RidgeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Barber’s history

What year was Barber founded?

The Barber post office opened in 1909, 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.