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Barber County, Kansas

Barber County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

Etymology - Origin of County Name

In honor of Thomas W.Barber, a Free State settler of Douglas County, who was killed in consequence of the political troubles, near Lawrence, December 6, 1855. (the county was originally named in the statute as "Barbour," but was corrected by special act of the Legislature in 1883.)

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Barber County, one of the southern tier, is bounded on the north by Pratt county, east by Kingman and Harper counties, south by the State of Oklahoma and west by Kiowa county. It was organized in 1873, from territory that was originally embraced in Washington county. The county was named for Thomas W. Barber, who was killed near Lawrence on Dec. 6, 1855. It was intended when the county was organized that it should bear the name "Barber," but in some manner the spelling was changed to "Barbour" and stood that way until 1883, when the legislature passed an act changing the name to "Barber," its present form, according to original intention. Its area is 1,134 square miles and, according to the Kansas Agricultural reports of 1908, it then ranked 73d in populatio

Geography

The eastern part of the county is undulating and in some places nearly level, while the western portion is hilly, breaking into bluffs along the streams. In the east the river bottoms vary from one and a half to two miles in width, but in the western part are narrower and deeper. The timber belts are usually about a half mile wide along the water courses, the native trees being walnut, elm, cottonwood, hackberry, ash, mulberry, cedar and willow. The county is a good agricultural country and stock raising is an important industry. Winter wheat, corn and Kafir corn are the staple products, while there are more than 50,000 bearing fruit trees on the farms of the county. Barber county is exceptionally well watered. All the streams have a general southeast course. Medicine Lodge river, the largest stream, flows diagonally across the county from northwest to southeast. Little and Big Mule, Big Sandy and Salt Fork creeks in the south, and Elm creek in the north are also important streams. Springs are abundant throughout the county, while good well water is reached at from 10 to 12 feet on the lowlands.

Neighboring Counties:

• North: Pratt County
• Northeast: Kingman County
• East: Harper County
• Southeast: Alfalfa County, Okla.
• Southwest: Woods County, Okla.
• West: Comanche County
• Northwest: Kiowa County

Cities and Towns:

County Resources:

Barber County - KS-Cyclopedia - 1912
 

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