Barber County, Kansas

Founding: 1874 (declared in 1867)
Parent county: Unorganized territory

Namesake: Thomas Barber, Kansas abolitionist
Seat: Medicine Lodge (1874–)

Land area: 1,134 square miles

Population (2020): 4,228

Population (historic): 2,661 (1880); 6,594 (1900); 10,178 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1880–1890; 1900s

Subdivisions: Seven cities; 18 townships

Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 1,041 (37.3%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 40.6%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 13.1%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 5.3%

Average farmhouse value (1930): $1,220
Average outbuilding value (1930): $1,284
Average farmhouse size (1940): 5.5 rooms
Number of farms (1920): 1,093
Average farm size (1920): 246.9 acres
Sources of settlement: Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois
_________________________________________________________________________________

Medicine Lodge

Namesake: The Medicine Lodge River

Founding: 1872 (post office); 1873 (platting); 1879 (incorporation)

Population (2020): 1,781

Population (historic): 373 (1880); 917 (1900); 1,655 (1930)

Periods of population growth: 1873–1890; 1900s; 1920–1960
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 387 (33.2%)
_________________________________________________________________________________

View and filter the data. Or see a map.

_________________________________________________________________________________