Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 20 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1850.
The Liberty post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Liberty is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Liberty’s 102 sits above most of its state (81% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 21 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Liberty’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1887Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Liberty.
The Liberty Courthouse Square Historic District, Liberty Residential Historic District, and Union County Courthouse are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereAmbrose Burnside is born here
Born hereWilliam O. Barnard is born here
Born hereDaniel Trembly MacDougal is born here
In the archiveOra Maxwell Bertch (The Indiana Woman, Indianapolis, 1897)
Born hereMarty Wyall is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2019Seminary Street
2019Seminary Street
2019Market Street
2019Market Street
2019Market Street
2019Market Street
2019Market Street
2019Main Street
2019Main Street
2019Main Street
2019Main Street
2019Liberty Public Library
2019Liberty Public Library
2019Liberty Public Library
2019Liberty Public Library
2019Liberty Public Library
2019Liberty Public Library
2019Liberty Public Library
2019Liberty Public Library
2019Liberty Public Library
2019Liberty Masonic Lodge
2019Liberty Masonic Lodge
2019Liberty Masonic Lodge
2019Liberty Masonic Lodge
2019Historical Marker, Templeton Cabin
2019Fairground Street
2019Fairground Street
2019Courthouse Square Gazebo
2019Carpet Stair, Union StreetEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Liberty. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Liberty.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Liberty’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 420 and 2,133 people in every census since 1850.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Liberty’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Liberty post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Liberty is more historic than 93% 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.
Two places: the Union County Courthouse (listed 1987) and the Liberty Courthouse Square Historic District (2013).
33% of Liberty’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.5 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1959.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (30), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
