TownTapestry
Sign inJoin
BarberGood morning
History · Barber

Barber’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Barber. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Barber is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, United States, in the Cherokee Nation. As of the 2020 census, Barber had a population of 303. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. The CDP is in southeastern Cherokee County, bordered to the north by Tenkiller, to the west by Caney Ridge, to the southwest by Dry Creek, and to the northeast by Rocky Mountain in Adair County. Oklahoma State Highway 100 passes through Barber, leading east 13 miles (21 km) to Stilwell and west 4 miles (6 km) to Highway 82 at Tenkiller Ferry Lake. Tahlequah is an additional 13 miles (21 km) to the northwest on Highway 82.

Half of its homes were built before 1990.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Barber yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Barber’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Barber’s history is told.

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from BarberWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Barber.Meet them →
By decade

Barber, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Barber is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Barber has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Ross Cemetery in Park Hill, 8.8 miles away.

Barber and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Barber. Tap a dot.
Ross CemeteryGolda's MillMurrell HomePark Hill Mission CemeteryFirst Cherokee Female Seminary SiteIllinois Campground

Closest to Barber

Ross CemeteryPark Hill · District8.8miGolda's MillWauhillau · Building8.8miMurrell HomePark Hill · Building9.3miPark Hill Mission CemeteryPark Hill · Site9.4miFirst Cherokee Female Seminary SitePark Hill · Built 18519.8mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Ross Cemetery’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Barber?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Barber’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Marble City📜 Stilwell📜 Tahlequah📜 Paradise Hill
The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Barber, OKView boundary

Nearby

All towns & citiesExplore the map

Local begins with a boundary.

See what belongs to your selected town.

Loading boundary…

Barber is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

Neighborhoods narrow the feed further, while townwide announcements, events, and issues remain visible.

Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01
Open detailed map