Barry Post Office.

Barry Colorado

So often when I go looking for these little communities, I find a field.  The home that had housed the Post Office is no more.  It has been demolished and plowed over by the farmer that bought it.

That is pretty much what happened to Barry.  Early 1900, farmer Barry had a contract to host a Post Office in his home. The host farmer would keep it for a time then lose the contract for whatever reason.  Then another farmer would host the Post Office.  On occasion the Post Office would be consolidated into another or go to town.  There were so many variables on how the contract would change and or move.  I have managed to find a few ancestors that had some history on their local Post Office.  In one instance, the old Post Office contract was out bid by another local rancher.  So the Post Office was moved.  In another a town was formed and the town got the Post Office. 

In the case of Barry, I’m guessing the contract was awarded to another or farmer Barry went belly up.  Homesteading was not easy and there were failures.  Having a PO contract meant a few coins to help keep the family going but if the contract is lost, the farmer gives up and moves on in his life.

Whether there is anything left of the community Post Office is not of major importance to me.  I like the journey and the sights I find along the way.  There were a few abandoned ranches along the way, with big barns, some homestead remains and an assortment of rusty old equipment. 

At Barry though I got a treat.  At the road intersection there was a farmhouse across the road.  As I drove past, the dogs came out to greet me, chasing my pick up down the road.  I went across the road and turned around to take some pictures.  The dogs had arrived and not far behind was a four wheeler.  The dogs were friendly and as I was petting them a young man got off his ATV and came to say hi and see what I was doing. 

We stood there talking for a bit, he was 10-11 years old.  When I asked him why he wasn’t in school, he said it was spring break time.  Probably much like his father, as we were talking, the young man was looking out across the land.  A fairly common trait among country folks, they seldom look at the other person when talking.  The gaze roams over the land, checking things.  Here was this youngster being just like a man of the land.  What a contrast from city kids, he was well mannered, spoke to the subject and was very conversant.  The other thing was, all by himself, he drove the four wheeler and was very adept at it.  His father had probably restricted him to the ditch for it was well mowed.  That is where he had driven and parked it, walking across to the road to say hi. In the city, they don’t want their kids driving until the kids are old and gray.  What a contrast. 

Any way, it was an empty filed where the map had shown Barry to be.  I looked around, said good bye and was escorted down the road by the dogs. 

Barry is located in the NW corner of Kit Carson County.

Country Community

Liberty Community

  Liberty was a church community, located in central Lincoln County, CO.  Many of these little churches dotted the plains years ago.  Few survived the Dust Bowl of the 30’s.  The land around Liberty is mostly ranch land because the soil is very sandy and not good farm land.  Yet here people settled and raised their families. 

  Today the only reminder that there had been a community is the remaining graveyard.  The church was removed a number of years ago, there is a slight depression in the ground where it had once been located.    The graveyard is well laid out, with section and row markers still in place.  Somebody in the area gives it TLC on occasion, moving the weeds/grass. 

Over the years I would drive past the little graveyard, giving little attention.  I would stop on occasion to take a picture of the gate.  The entry is very ornate and was a good subject for some nice pictures.  I finally made it appoint to go visit and have a look see.  I’m guessing there were lots of wooden crosses that were used in the early days and they have rotted or blown away.   There were some homemade markers and some of an early century style.  I did not see any veterans headstones.  The latest I saw was 1935.

I found an old history book for Lincoln County and It had a picture of the church and gave a brief history on the community, the local settlers.  From the looks of the picture, the church was on the downhill side of fading.   By the time 1940 rolled around the church was gone and many of the early settlers had moved on.  The graveyard is a silent memory of days gone by.