The story
Read it all →How Barre came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Barre.
The town was most likely named for Barre, Vermont, as a portion of the area's early settlers came from that area.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · Barre
15% of Barre’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1927 on and the census since 1990.
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Barre’s history
How historic is Barre?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Barre’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Barre is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Barre’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194014.7% of homes (±6.1) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical WI town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 38%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Barre’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points).
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Barre’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Barre’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barre’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Barre, 1867 to 1927
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1867Post officeThe Barre Mills post office opens
- 20th century
- 1900Post officeThe Barre Mills post office closes
- 1927
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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 albumOn the map
Barre on the map, 1927 to 1963
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Barre. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1927La Crosse sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Barre.
People over time
Barre, census by census
Between 908 and 1,234 people in every census since 1990.
3 censuses, 1990–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Barre’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Barre
Nobody well known was born in Barre itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Barre Mills, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Barre Mills
Gone or out of use
Oakhurst SchoolschoolSunnybrook Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Barre
Barre MillsOld Saint JohnsSaint Johns
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.
Questions about Barre’s history
How does Barre rank for history?
Barre is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Barre?
15% of Barre’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1982.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikidata (1), 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.