The township was named for Edward Barry, a railroad engineer.

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 587 people, 209 households, and 155 families residing in the township.

There were 258 housing units at an average density of 7.3 per square mile (2.8/km2).

There were 209 households, out of which 40.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.9% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families.

20.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.