John William Barnett was an extraordinary civil engineer who did much for Athens and for the state of Georgia. In 30 years as chief city engineer, he constructed Athens city hall and was in charge of installation of the first city sewer system, among many other things. In his later years he engineered buildings for the University of Georgia system. Many of his other accomplishments are detailed in his published biography and in his obituary.

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From John William Barnett's published biography from the book "A History of Athens and Clarke County", 1923:

John William Barnett, city engineer of Athens, GA, was born in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, August 17, 1868, son of Benjamin Harrison Barnett and Irene Yancey Barentt. He received his elementary education in the common schools, entered the University of Georgia, and was graduated with the Engineering degree in the class of 1889.

Mr. Barnett has been engaged in the practice of his profession with marked success since graduation. For thirty years he has been engineer to the city of Athens, GA, and in addition thereto has acted as consulting engineer for a number of engineering projects, including paving, waterworks and sewerage construction, and the design of a number of buildings of considerable magnitude. He has acted as consulting engineer for the United States government in sewage and drainage systems for Hot Springs, Ark. During the World War he was Chief Engineer for Fuel Conservation for the State of Georgia.

He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

February 19, 1891, Mr. Barnett was united in marriage with Miss India Hunter. Their daughters are Mrs. Artie Small and Mrs. Sterling Hubbard, both of Atlanta, Ga.

Mr. Barnett's residence address is 340 Milledge Avenue, Athens, Ga.

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Material below is from John William's obituary published in the Athens newspaper:

Capt. John W. Barnett, for many years a resident of Athens and later chairman of the State Highway Board, died in his home in Atlanta yesterday. He was ninety-four years old.
Captain Barnett was a native of Oglethorpe County and came to Athens in young manhood. He quickly entered into the many phases of the community life and soon was named City Engineer, a post he filled with credit to himself and great benefit to the city. He held the post for some thirty years before retiring from it to become chairman of the State Highway Board. This was during a period when Georgians were becoming acutely conscious of the necessity for a better road system and paved highways. As he had in his official duties in Athens, Georgia, Captain Barnett served the state with distinction as head of the highway department.

Captain Barnett numbered his friends literally in the thousands and was possessed of a very keen wit and Chesterfieldian manners, among other attributes. During the life of the Barnett family in Athens their home on Milledge Avenue next to St. Mary's Hospital was the gathering place for this city's socially elite and many were the enjoyable functions held there.

Of late years he had acted in engineering supervisory capacities for the Board of Regents of the University of Georgia.