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C+History
History · Liberal

Liberal’s post office opened in 1886, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #86 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it

Its Register listing is the J E George Building. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1911 on, and the census since 1900.

1886first post office
1on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
13famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Liberal’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Liberal began

When was Liberal founded?

1886

The Liberal post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1888.

First census: 426 in 19002020 census: 19,825140 years

How historic is Liberal?

C+

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Liberal post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1888.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Liberal’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Liberal is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #86 of 151 in Kansas. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Liberal’s overall grade.
Founding era1886, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194010.7% of homes (±3.5) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 0.5 per 10,000 residents · typical KS town 5.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 40%
NewerOlder
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 43%

Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Liberal’s 0.5 sits near the middle of its state (39% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1888 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 →

What stands out about Liberal’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages13 hamlets and corners are still on the map.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1890–1944.Famous sons and daughtersMartin Lewis, Melvin Sanders and 11 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Liberal’s post office has been open since 1886.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Cimarron Mobile Home ParkDowntown Mobile Home ParkDunlap Mobile Home ParkFour U Mobile Home ParkGas Light Village Mobile Home ParkGitgood Trailer ParkHi - Klass Mobile Home ParkSage Mobile Home ParkScantlins Mobile Home ParkSouthlawn Trailer CourtSunnyside Mobile Home ParkWestern Mobile Home Park NorthWestern Mobile Home Park South
Gone or out of use
Liberal Army Air Fieldmilitary
1cemetery inside Liberal
Liberal

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

By decade

Liberal, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Hardware store, managed by Mr. Clarence Y. Martin, father of Glenn L. Martin, in the early days of Liberal, Kansas1890Hardware store, managed by Mr. Clarence Y. Martin, fa…
1900s–1920snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1930s10 items
Dust Storms; Turtle Studio; "Dust Storm in Liberal, Kansas"1935Dust Storms; Turtle Studio; "Dust Storm in Liberal, K…Leveling fields to prevent wind erosion on project near Liberal, Kansas1936Leveling fields to prevent wind erosion on project ne…Fence almost completely buried under drifts of soil. Near Liberal, Kansas1936Fence almost completely buried under drifts of soil. …The wind fills up the ditches in this "chiseled" field near Liberal, Kansas1936The wind fills up the ditches in this "chiseled" fiel…Soil blown by "dust bowl" winds piled up in large drifts near Liberal, Kansas1936Soil blown by "dust bowl" winds piled up in large dri…Shifting drifts of dust will soon force this farmer to abandon his home near Liberal, Kansas1936Shifting drifts of dust will soon force this farmer t…A farmer's son playing on one of the large soil drifts which threaten to cover up his home. Liberal, Kansas1936A farmer's son playing on one of the large soil drift…The winds of the "dust bowl" have piled up large drifts of soil against this farmer's barn near Liberal, Kansas1936The winds of the "dust bowl" have piled up large drif…A farmer listing his fields under the wind erosion control program. He receives twenty cents an acre for the work. Libe…1936A farmer listing his fields under the wind erosion co…A farmer listing his fields under the wind erosion control program. He receives twenty cents an acre for the work. Libe…1936A farmer listing his fields under the wind erosion co…
1940s1 item
Liberal Army Air Field, Third War Loan Drive (NBY 8711)1944Liberal Army Air Field, Third War Loan Drive (NBY 871…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Famous people

13 famous people were born in Liberal

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
M
Martin LewisAmerican basketball player · b. 1975
M
Melvin SandersAmerican basketball player · b. 1981
Shalee LehningAmerican basketball player · b. 1986
G
Greg NicholsAmerican soccer player · b. 1965
Jerame TumanPlayer of American football · b. 1976
J
Junior HerndonAmerican baseball player · b. 1978
The story

How Liberal came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Liberal.

Read it all →

Early settler Seymour S. Rogers built the first house in what would become Liberal in 1872. Rogers became famous in the region for giving free water to thirsty travelers. Reportedly, Liberal gained its name from the common response to his acts of kindness, "That's very liberal of you." In 1885 Rogers built a general store, and with it came an official U.S. Post Office. Rogers named the post office 'Liberal'. After the railroad was built close by, a plan for the town site was created in 1888. A year later the population was around 800.

Drought caused some farmers to give up and look for more fertile territory; however, when the nearby Indian Territory was opened, more settlers headed to the cheap land that would become Oklahoma.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Liberal, 1886 to 1986

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Liberal post office opens
  3. 1890In the archiveHardware store, managed by Mr. Clarence Y. Martin, father of Glenn L. Martin, in the earl…
  4. 20th century
  5. 1935In the archiveDust Storms; Turtle Studio; "Dust Storm in Liberal, Kansas"
  6. 1944In the archiveLiberal Army Air Field, Third War Loan Drive (NBY 8711)
  7. 1965Born hereGreg Nichols is born here
  8. 1971On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1975Born hereMartin Lewis is born here
  10. 1981Born hereMelvin Sanders is born here
  11. 1986Born hereShalee Lehning is born here
On the map

Liberal on the map, 1971 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Liberal. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Liberal on the 1971 USGS mapLiberal on the 1983 USGS map1971Liberal sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Liberal.

Every building

Liberal, building by building, 1911–1923

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.

Liberal fire insurance map, 1911, sheet 11911Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Hardware store, managed by Mr. Clarence Y. Martin, father of Glenn L. Martin, in the early days of Liberal, Kansas
Retake this viewHardware store, managed by Mr. Clarence Y. Martin, father of Glenn L. Martin, in the early days of Liberal, Kansas, 1890

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Liberal’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Liberal

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2025
J E George Building
J E George Building
Buildings
All 1 listings
J E George BuildingBuilding · listed 2025

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Liberal, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 20,525

Between 426 and 20,525 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Liberal’s Wikipedia page.

Help out

Finish Liberal’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHardware store, managed by Mr. Clarence…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Liberal’s history

What year was Liberal founded?

The Liberal post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1888.

How does Liberal rank for history?

Liberal is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #86 of 151 in Kansas. 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.

What is on the National Register in Liberal?

One place: the J E George Building (listed 2025).

How old are the homes in Liberal?

11% of Liberal’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1973.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (2), the Library of Congress (10), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.