Barton

Formed December 12, 1855 (105^th county)

Barton County (11,625), Lamar (4,270)                

The red brick and stone Romanesque facility was erected in 1888 and remodeled in 1973.  The county was organized on December 12, 1855 from Jasper County as the 105^th county with Lamar as the only county seat.  The building sits on a square at Broadway, 10^th, Gulf, and 11^th streets.  United States Highway 160 passes one block south of the site.  The architects were W. R. Parsons and Son.  A stone gazebo sits on the courthouse square.  There were 1856, 1860 and 1866 courthouses earlier.  The county is named for Senator David Barton.  The county seat is named for Texas Republic President Mirabeau B. Lamar. 

Barton County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  One Circuit Court Judge serves Barton, Cedar, Dade, and Vernon counties and One County Court Judge serves Barton County.  The county is in the southwest part of the state.  Kansas City, Missouri is north and Springfield, Missouri is southeast of the county.  The county center is 3.7 miles Southwest of Lamar.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Vernon, Cedar, Dade, and Jasper counties and Kansas. 

The area of the county is 594 square miles.  It is 56 out of 115 in the state.  It ranks 77 out of 115 in population in the state.  It has a density of 19.6 persons per square mile making it 81 out of 115 in the state.  Barton County has 51.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate 49 passes north to south through the county from Vernon County to Jasper County.  United States Highway 71 is joined with Interstate 49 from Vernon County to Jasper County.  United States Highway 160 crosses east to west from Dade County to Kansas.  Harry S. Truman, the 32^nd President, was born in this county.  The county is a rectangle.  Lamar is in the eastern third of the county.  Lamar is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 36.7% of the county population.

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