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History · Barry

Barry’s post office opened in 1886, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1960.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Barry began

When was Barry founded?

1886

The Barry post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 178 in 19602020 census: 220140 years
Founding year: the first Barry post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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 1960.
★ 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.
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The story

How Barry came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Barry.

Read it all →

Established in 1886, the city was named after Bryan T. Barry, an early landowner who sold 300 acres to settlers. Its original location was a mile south of its present site. After the St. Louis Southwestern Railway completed a line between Corsicana and Hillsboro in 1888, residents moved to the present location near the railroad tracks. A public school opened in 1896 to serve the settlement, which also had a post office, general store and gin. By 1914, the community of 400 residents had two banks, a newspaper, hotel, stores, eateries, a blacksmith, and three churches. A Masonic lodge was later founded. The Barry school merged with nearby Blooming Grove in 1958.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Barry, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Barry marker2018Barry markerBarry Post Office and Marker2018Barry Post Office and MarkerBarry Texas Wiki (1 of 1)2017Barry Texas Wiki (1 of 1)TXMap-doton-Barry2004TXMap-doton-Barry
On the map

Barry on the map, 1965 to 1985

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 1965 USGS mapBarry on the 1985 USGS map1965Blooming Grove sheet · 1:24,000

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

01002001960198020002020Peak: 242

Between 149 and 242 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Questions about Barry’s history

What year was Barry founded?

The Barry post office opened in 1886, 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 Wikimedia Commons (4), 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.