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History · Barksdale

Barksdale’s post office opened in 1904, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1964 on.

1904first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
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Photo: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Barksdale began

When was Barksdale founded?

1904

The Barksdale post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 745122 years
Founding year: the first Barksdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Barksdale’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 Barksdale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Barksdale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barksdale’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 so far

Barksdale, in brief

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

Barksdale is a town in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 745 at the 2020 census, up from 723 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated community of Barksdale is located in the town. The town was named by William G. Ramsay, the chief engineer for the DuPont Chemical Company, for Hamilton M. Barksdale, vice president of DuPont. The town was once the home of an explosives factory owned by the DuPont company. Press reports mention a number of fatal accidents. Four died in a dynamite explosion in October 1907. Two men were killed in an explosion on August 24, 1928. A larger explosion at the facility killed eight in October 1952.

Its first post office opened in 1904. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 723 to 745 (+3%).

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

Timeline

Barksdale, 1904 to 1966

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904Post officeThe Barksdale post office opens
  3. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1966Post officeThe Barksdale 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.

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On the map

Barksdale on the map, 1964 to 1975

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

Barksdale on the 1964 USGS mapBarksdale on the 1975 USGS map1964Ashland West 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 Barksdale.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Barksdale had its own post office from 1904 to 1966.

Barksdale
1904–1966
19001960today

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.

EileenIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWashburnIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPilsenIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTrippIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBayviewIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Barksdale’s history

What year was Barksdale founded?

The Barksdale post office opened in 1904, 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 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.