Joseph James Barton, son of John Matilda Barton and Emily Cassandra Sneed Barton, was born on November 6, 1865, in Milam County, Texas. Joseph J. Barton married Mary Jane Harlan at Branchville in Milam County.

In 1890, Joseph Barton visited the South Plains in search of good ranch land. After the visit, Joseph Barton formed a partnership with two of his uncles, J.T. Sneed and Frank Barton. The result of the partnership was the TL Ranch for which Joseph Barton served as the resident operator.

The TL Ranch was located in the southwest corner of Hale County and consisted of approximately 28 sections in the Sabine County school land and two sections acquired by Joseph Barton under the Texas Homestead Act. The ranch also leased a further 20 sections of land.

The family first lived in a four room box-and-strip house. Mary Barton found life on the ranch to be very different from that in Milam County. The plains lacked the trees and circle of friends and neighbors that she enjoyed in east Texas. Joseph helped his wife adjust to life on the plains by planting fruit trees, shade trees and some rose bushes.

Life on the ranch had many challenges and required the family to adapt and be inventive. Mary Barton, for example, had to be a "country doctor" of sorts and take care of common illness and injuries because the nearest doctor was hours away.

Despite the challenges that the family faced, they did make an effort to bring a degree of refinement and hospitality to their part of the plains. Visitors, whether friend or stranger, were expected to join in the meals and partake of the family's generosity.

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By 1906, land values in the area increased sharply as land-hungry immigrants arrived in the South Plains. The land boom also encouraged plans for a railroad, the Panhandle-Short Line, to pass through the home section of the TL Ranch. The possibility of a railroad passing though his land inspired Joseph Barton build a town on his land.

Barton had a portion of his land holdings platted for development and began selling lots in what became Bartonsite. Joseph Barton spent a considerable amount of his wealth to promote his dream. The proposed railroad was a magnet that attracted scores of people to the town.  Barton's dream boasted a blacksmith shop, hotel, community church, a post office and a school. The town's population swelled to approximately 250 and was poised to continue expanding. Unfortunately, the railroad did not come to Bartonsite, but went through the new town of Abernathy instead.

Without the railroad, the population of Bartonsite started to decline as people left for towns closer to the railroad. The newly vacant buildings did not go to waste. Monroe G. Abernathy, Marvin C. Overton and J.C. Roberds wrote a letter to Joseph Barton offering a trade of land in the town of Abernathy in exchange for some of the buildings in Bartonsite. In the end, the steam tractors were used to haul the hotel and a handful of other buildings to Abernathy to aid in that community's growth and development.

One of the buildings that remained was the large Victorian home that Joseph Barton built to be both his family's residence and a center of refinement and entertainment for the community. The house, a two-story structure with a spacious attic, was based on plans bought from a catalogue. Mr. Barton altered the plans to suit his own preferences and built the elegant abode for his wife and children.

The house was occupied by members of the Barton family until 1974 when Josephine Barton, wife of Jack Barton, died in 1974. Josephine, familiar with early efforts to create the Ranching Heritage Center, willed the home to the RHC (later renamed NRHC) where it currently resides.