Barton was formed on March 23, 1824 and is nestled between two rivers, the Susquehanna River and the Chemung River. The town lies in the southwestern corner of Tioga County and is bounded on the north by the Town of Spencer, east by the Towns of Tioga and Nichols, south by the New York/Pennsylvania border, and on the west by Chemung County.
Barton was incorporated in 1854, which includes the Village of Waverly, hamlets of Barton and Lockwood, and part of Halsey Valley. There are 94.345 miles of roads in the Town of Barton (excluding the Village of Waverly) and a population of 8,858 with 4,444 being within the Village (2010 Census).
The origin of the name “Barton” is vague. In an early dictionary, the word barton was defined in part as “the domain lands of a manor.” Since no prominent person by the name of Barton ever lived or owned property in Barton when it was surveyed, it is reasonable conjecture that the word, “barton” (meaning manor) was written on an early map and filed in Albany. When the map was examined and the only name found on it was “Barton”, that was the name given to the town.
Most of the early settlers came from New York, Connecticut or Pennsylvania. One of the earliest and most prominent was John Shepard. In 1796, he bought 1,000 acres which covered all the land on which the Village of Waverly now stands. Others living in Barton before 1795 operated farms and sawmills. Those who operated these farms and sawmills include Luke Saunders, John Hanna, Samuel Ellis, Ebenezer Ellis, James Swartwood and Stephen Mills. Businesses in the nineteenth century included Novelty Furniture Works, the Butter and Oyster Pail Manufactory, and Sayre Butter Package Company. There were grist and flouring mills, saw mills, creameries, wagon and blacksmith shops.
The first church erected in the Town of Barton, in 1833, was the Emory Chapel and was named after John Emory, a Methodist Bishop. It is the second oldest church in Tioga County and still stands on a pretty little knoll guarding the graves of many of their early settlers.
Social life in the town was provided by the North Barton Grange #45, the first grange in Tioga County which was established on January 2, 1874.
Barton Community Club was incorporated on November 29, 1946, with the purpose of maintaining and fostering interest in civic, social, and community affairs.
The Town Municipal Offices have been located at 304 Route 17C, Waverly, NY, since December 1982 in the old Ellistown “Little Red School House”. It was a schoolhouse until the late 1950’s and was turned over to the town in 1963 by the Waverly Central School District. The offices inside the “Little Red School House” include the Supervisor’s Office, Town Clerk, Town Assessor, Town Justice, Town Code Enforcement, Town Constable and a Dog Control Officer.