Central Barren is an unincorporated community in Morgan Township

Morgan Township, Harrison County, Indiana

Morgan Township is one of twelve townships in Harrison County, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 3,819.-External links:* *...

, Harrison County

Harrison County, Indiana

Harrison County is a county located in the far southern part of the U.S. state of Indiana along the Ohio River. It is divided into twelve townships, and the county seat is Corydon, the former capital of Indiana. The county is part of the larger Louisville/Jefferson County, KY–IN Metropolitan...

, Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

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History

The Harrison County barrens were so named by the early settlers for the lack timber on them. They were large tracts of prairie like land, with only grass and small bushes. For the first decades of settlement, no one would live on the barrens because they were considered too far from the timber needed to build homes, fires, fences, and other necessities. The barrens were also swept by annual field fires, which would burn off most of the growth. As settlement expanded and farming grew in the early nineteenth century, settlers began to discover that because of the fires the barrens were among the most fertile farmlands in the state, and they quickly filled up with landholders. As settlement increased, the settler were able to stop and prevent the wild fires that hindered forest growth and by the start of the 20th century much of the barrens that was uninhabited began to grow up in Forrest, as it has remained until modern times.