In the days prior to online course registration, each student would come to Barton Hall at the start of the semester to register for classes.

The rock thrower was mistakenly identified as physics major James R. Bean, who was later suspended and placed on trial for first degree riot, a class E felony.

[7] The Bean trial was a high point in political tensions between the town and the campus and marked an end to efforts to prosecute anti-war protesters off-campus.

For many years, Barton Hall had a non-operational deck gun used in Navy ROTC Training which was fenced off from the general public.

On May 1, 1969, as a protest against the Vietnam War, members of the Students for a Democratic Society broke into the fenced area and painted anti-war slogans on the gun .

In a departure from the practice of handling student disciplinary issues with the campus judicial system, eight (later expanded to ten) protesters were prosecuted in the city courts for trespassing, but charges against them were dropped.

It has hosted acts such as the Grateful Dead,[10] Santana, Ludacris, Bob Dylan, Death Cab For Cutie, Franz Ferdinand, the Cribs, Saint Motel, Daya, and the Flaming Lips.

In 2009–2011, Barton Hall underwent an $8 million renovation, including structural repairs, work on the gutters and masonry, and replacement of the roof and windows.

[14] Barton Hall now contains a 200 m track, basketball courts, the Hart Memorial Library, and the Wortham Museum.

Barton also contains a throwing cage with a cement circle and crusher dust landing sector surrounded by a 25-foot (7.6 m) high chain link fence.