Barber County Courthouse - Medicine Lodge, KS
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 37° 16.772 W 098° 34.688
14S E 537398 N 4125966
The courthouse sits where the former SE corner of the Medicine Lodge stockade, built to protect mule trains, and farmers from Indians.
Waymark Code: WM9G98
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 08/17/2010
Views: 2
Barber County's beautiful Gyp Hills offer scenic views straight out of a Technicolor movie. Highway US 160 passes through this area and there is a marked scenic route to take you by some of the best places.
Most of the county is hilly, and the economy is based on ranching, petroleum, and mining.
Organized in 1873. County seat Medicine Lodge. In honor of Thomas W.Barber, a Free State settler of Douglas County, who was killed in consequence of the political troubles, near Lawrence, December 6, 1855. (the county was originally named in the statute as "Barbour," but was corrected by special act of the Legislature in 1883.)
One interesting event was a bank robbery, attempted by Caldwell, Kansas town Marshal. Tragedy struck on April 30, 1884, when the marshal of Caldwell, Henry Brown, his assistant, Ben Wheeler; and two cowboys, John Wesley and Billy Smith attempted to rob the bank killing Payne and Geppert. Chaplin had gone to the post office prior to the robbery. A posse pursued the robbers into the gyp hills, trapped them in a box canyon, captured them and brought them on to jail. Later that night, townsmen demanded to see the robbers, who tried to escape. Brown was shot and killed and Wheeler wounded. The three survivors were hanged from an elm tree on Spring Creek at the bottom of East 1st Avenue. Caldwell had to find another marshal.
Current court standing can be read here: 30th Judicial District
Anoter place with info here: Barber County
I was told at the courthouse late 1950s, maybe 58 or 61. Yes that's what he said. No one had a specific date or where to find it. So I put the earliest below.