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| — Extinct town — | |
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Indiana |
| County | Jefferson |
| Township | Shelby |
| Elevation | 571 ft (174 m) |
| ZIP code | 47250 |
| FIPS code | 18-12520[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 432479[2] |
Barbersville, Indiana, was an unincorporated town in Shelby Township, Jefferson County, Indiana. Nothing remains of its few buildings.
Barbersville was probably preceded by the town of Edinburgh, which was platted on Nov. 3, 1815 and recorded in the Jefferson County deed records. No legal land definitions were included, but a rough map showed the land of the proprietors, Wilson Buchanan, George Benefiel, and James Whitton, who was neighboring landowners, all of whom had land in the Barbersville area. They laid out sixty-four lots laid out around a public square, which was filed in Jefferson County Deed Book A page 174.
The Barbersville Post Office operated from Dec. 7, 1826 to Nov. 19, 1838 and then was transferred to nearby Buchanan's Station in Ripley County. Mail service was then provided by the Canaan Post Office in Shelby Township. The government re-established the Barberville's office on June 27, 1848 and it operated until May 31, 1906, when service was transferred to Canaan.
The first postmaster, Timothy Barber, was licensed by the Jefferson County Commissioners to sell foreign merchandise (such as sugar and coffee) in May 1829 and again in May 1832. Enoch and Thomas Bray platted the town on December 18, 1848 with fifteen lots and three named streets including Main Street, 60-feet wide, Broadway, 50-feet wide, and Main Cross. During the 1870s, most of the lots came into possession of area resident William Buchanan.
The Historical Atlas of Indiana, published in 1876, lists its population as 100 in 1870. But it was never separately enumerated in the censuses, so this may reflect the number of people with Barbersville addresses. William H., operated the store with the longest history, opening in 1857 and closing with his death in 1911. His goods were auctioned on August 8, 1911, according to William Kramer's Shelby Township history.
The 1890 Indiana Business Directory and Gazetteer described the town as follows: "A village of 50 population located Shelby township, Jefferson county, 15 miles northeast of Madison., the county seat, shipping point, and banking town. Grain, livestock, hay and fruit are the shipments. Mail, tri-weekly. W.H.H. Benefiel."
A Barbersville school, a one-room facility, was operating by Dec. 24, 1890 when the school year ended, according to the Jan. 6, 1891 issue of the Daily Democrat. It apparently closed by the 1915/16 school year as a county school list for that year did not include it.
The town had a corn mill, according to a Madison Courier dated January 31, 1895, which said the mill "grinds every Friday and Saturday when not too bad" and was under the operation of Milford Smock. The town also had a justice of the peace court, which lasted at least into the latter part of the nineteenth century. The Madison Courier reported in 1895 that Squire Van Antwerp's Court will convene September 24." William Benefiel, was listed as involved in a "General Store, Implements, Fertilizers and Live Stock."
In the twentieth century, the area was severely depopulated and there are no residences or other buildings along the Barbersville Road for about two miles, including the area in which the town was once located.
Barbersville was located at Latitude: 38.90583. Longitude: -85.28083. Elevation: 899.
Baker, J. David, The Postal History of Indiana, 1976, Philatelic Bibliophile, P.O. Box 213971, Louisville, Ky. 1976.
Baskin, Forester, & Co., Illustrated Atlas of the State of Indiana, Chicago, 1876.
Jefferson County, Indiana. Office of the Assessor. County Commissioners Record Books.
Jefferson County, Indiana. Office of the Recorder. Deed Book A
Kramer, William J. "Some Leading Facts of History of Canaan, Indiana and Shelby Township, Jefferson County, Indiana. Canaan Restoration Council. Canaan, Ind., 1961.
Polk, R.L. & Co.Indiana State Gazetteer & Business Directory. 1890. Volume V. S.E. Circle and Meridian Streets, Indianapolis, Ind. Reprinted 1978-9 by The Bookmark, P.O. Box 74 Knightstown, Ind. 46148.