Barnhart, named for William F. Barnhart, an agent of the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railroad, was founded in 1910. During the 1920s and 1930s it was a major freighting center and was considered by many the largest inland livestock shipping point. The Ozona-Barnhart Trap Co. established cattle holding pens along the trails into town to protect area ranches. Barnhart later declined as rail traffic decreased. It once had a school, post office, newspaper, drugstore, theater, bank, four cafes, two hotels, three groceries, and a variety of other businesses.