Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1833.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Liberty Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Liberty Township is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Liberty Township’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Liberty Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±12.6 points). Two sources give 1822.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Liberty Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Brick SchoolschoolCalifornia SchoolschoolChaplin SchoolschoolEast Union SchoolschoolFranklin SchoolschoolHickory Grove SchoolschoolLost Prairie SchoolschoolSeigel Schoolschool
16cemeteries and burying grounds inside Liberty Township
Alfred Walker and Peter WilliamsBroadyClark FamilyCoatsDrescher FamilyElmwood FamilyGrubbHughesLibertyLierleNationsPearcePleasant ViewSaint BrigidsWilliams FamilyXander
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Liberty Township began with the first settlement made on Section 28, by Daniel Lile, in the spring of 1822, and many old settlers followed about the same time. The first regular preacher was George Wolfe of the Dunkard denomination. First horse mill was built by Daniel Lile. The first marriage was that of Jacob Waggle to a Miss Hunsaker, by the Rev. George Wolfe, at the house of the bride's father. The first birth and death, was an infant child of Mr. Kimbrick. The first Supervisor was David Wolfe.
Elder George Wolfe, who settled in Adams County about 1833, came here from Union County, Illinois, where he was a pioneer. Elder George Wolfe performed the first marriage ceremony in Liberty Township. He developed and owned a good farm in Liberty Township, but always carried on his work as a minister of the Gospel, and as long as strength and years permitted rode horseback carrying the message of the Gospel over a wide territory, going even as far away as Indiana. He established the Dunkard Church at Liberty, the first ehurcli of that denomination in the county. He was a prominent factor in
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Quincy and Adams County history1919 · page 875Read the page →
Read the text
He represents one of the oldest families of Liberty Township. A record of things historical in that township states that the first sermon was preached the'Te by George Wolfe of the Dunkard denomination in 1829, and a Dunkard church was organized in 1831. It was also Elder George Wolfe who solemnized the first marriage in the township. This pioneer of the Dunkard faith was the great-grandfather of Judge Wolfe. As an early settler he patented 160 acres of land, built a log cabin, and there lived and died. He had come from Union County, Illinois, and the family lived for a time at Kaskaskia before sojourning
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Liberty Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1925Liberty sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Liberty Township.
People over time
Liberty Township, census by census
Between 218 and 587 people in every census since 1880.
7 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Liberty Township’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1822, according to Wikidata. Liberty Township’s post office opened in 1833, and the census of 1880 counted 218 people here.
How does Liberty Township rank for history?
Liberty Township is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Liberty Township?
21% of Liberty Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±12.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1975.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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