Charter and boundaries
The legal basis for Barney's municipal government was Act No. 292, "Barney, Town of Incorporated." The Georgia General Assembly approved the act on August 6, 1903, and published it in the 1903 Acts and Resolutions, pages 440-446. The act incorporated the community under the legal name "the town of Barney."
A town centered on the depot
The charter defined the corporate limits as the area extending one-half mile in every direction from the South Georgia Railway depot at Barney. The depot was therefore both the town's transportation center and the point from which its legal boundaries were measured.
The boundary formalized a community that had already developed around the railroad, post office, school, churches, stores, and other local institutions. Before August 6, public affairs had been handled through the railroad, post office, militia district, local justices, school trustees, churches, merchants, doctors, and county officials. The charter placed the area within a defined municipality governed by elected town officers.
Source
- Georgia General Assembly, Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, 1903, pages 440-446, Act No. 292, "Barney, Town of Incorporated," approved August 6, 1903, Digital Library of Georgia, dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlgl_88438600.