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Barry History
in a Pecan ShellBryan
T. Barry, the owner of the land on which the town developed is the obvious namesake.
Originally a mile south of the present-day town, basic amenities ( a cotton gin
and post office) were in operation in the mid 1880s. It was the arrival of the
railroad that shifted the town’s center in 1888.
In 1896 the first public
school opened with an estimated student population of 127. By 1914 the population
had increased to around 400 residents and Barry had a newspaper as well as two
banks and nearly all essential businesses.
The population only declined
to 350 as the Great Depression was growing to an end in the late 1930s. In the
late 1950s Barry’s school district merged with that of Blooming
Grove. The 1970 census reported 175 residents with only two businesses open.
The 2000 census slowed a slight improvement, counting 208 residents.
See
Barry Historical Marker
A
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Barry Historical
Marker TextThis
agricultural community was named for Corsicana businessman Bryan T. Barry, who
developed the land deeded for the townsite by early settlers Dave and Effie Wright.
The Barry Post Office was established in 1886, the same year the St. Louis, Arkansas
& Texas Railroad came through the town. The first post office was housed in the
general store operated by Owen Taylor, who also was the town's first postmaster.
Henry Allison later served as rural mail carrier for 40 years. Early businesses
in Barry included the First State Bank, which operated from 1909 until 1931, grocery
stores, gas stations, drugstores, blacksmith shops, a newspaper office, a meat
market, a cafe, and a hotel. In 1910, W. T. Woodruff and R. W. Varnell formed
Woodruff and Co., which sold dry goods, hardware, and farm implements.
Settlers
were attracted to the area by its rich farmland, and by 1920 most of the land
had been cleared and planted in cotton. Barry's first cotton gin was established
in 1899 by Dan McCammon, and E. Y.Jordan and Jack Hodge also operated early gins.
Methodist and Baptist churches were organized by the end of the 19th century,
and the Barry School, which opened in 1895, served the area until 1958.
(Marker
on FM 1126)
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Barry Baptist
Church Historical MarkerThe
Barry Baptist Church congregation, originally organized as the Elam Baptist Church
congregation, was established in September 1891 with seven charter members. The
Rev. C. R. Roberts became the congregation's first pastor in June of 1892.
Early services were held in a church structure one block northeast of this site.
The congregation quickly became involved in county and statewide Baptist church
affairs, affiliating with the Navarro County Baptist Association of the Baptist
Convention of Texas in July 1892. Additionally, the congregation was able to institute
a Sunday School program by 1895, under the leadership of J. M. Head, who served
as first Sunday School superintendent.
In 1916-17, during the pastorate
of the Rev. A. W. Luper, the congregation built its second church structure at
this site. Worship services have been held at this location since December of
1917. The Barry Baptist Church congregation has been involved in a variety of
missionary activities over the years, concentrating on local mission programs,
and it has played a prominent role in this community for over one hundred years.
(Marker on
FM 1126)
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