Paul M. Barnes was born in Glen Ullin, North Dakota, in 1887, to one of the pioneer families of that area. He attended the University of North Dakota School of Engineering, graduating in 1911 as a civil engineer.
After graduating, he spent four years as assistant engineer for the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He enlisted in the United States Army in World War I, going to France with the American Expeditionary Force. He was commissioned in the field and returned in 1919 as a 1st Lieutenant of engineers. Paul settled in Valley City in 1920 and, with partners J. W. Bliss and Reuben Stee, formed the Dakota Engineering and Construction Company, of which he was president until his death in 1972.
During his years in Valley City, he was city engineer, Barnes County Engineer, and also served as consulting engineer for more than forty other towns and cities in the county and throughout the state.
Paul was a participant, and from this participation he received many acknowledgements and awards, among them being the conferring of the Degree of Professional Engineering by LIND, state president of North Dakota Professional Engineering Association, Commander of the Valley City American Legion Post, state President of the Izaak Walton League, North Dakota Association of General Contractors Distinguished Service Citation, and the Valley City Rotary Club Community Service Award. He was a charter member of the Valley City Kiwanis Club, a member of the Congregational Church, Elks Lodge, and the Masonic Temple of Mandan.
Paul and Naomi Margaret Walton were married in 1924. Naomi, a native of Armstrong, Missouri, a graduate of Stephens College and Missouri State Teachers College, had taught French to Army personnel in cantonments in Georgia, the Carolinas, New York, and Washington, DC during World War I. She came to Valley City as a high school teacher of English and French in 1923. She was a published poetess. Mrs. Barnes also spent a considerable amount of time in developing an outstanding collection of fine antiques, and in making their home, named the "Lucy Wales" after the founder of Stephens College, an attraction to both friends and travelers passing through Valley City. Iron lace grill work from Shreveport, Louisiana, was especially fabricated for the Barnes home and has been retained thereon by subsequent owners of the house.
One daughter, Marion, was born to Paul and Naomi in 1925. She married Robert L. Brown in 1949, and they have two children; Roberta (Mrs. Charles Shiels) and Paul, a University of North Dakota student.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 22