Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Liberty Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Liberty Township

22% of Liberty Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1924 on.

0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Liberty Township’s archive · credits on each photo

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.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Liberty Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Liberty Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewRuins of jail where Joseph Smith, Hyrum…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Liberty Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Liberty Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Liberty Township is a township in Daviess County, Missouri, United States. At the 2020 census, its population was 865. Liberty Township was established in 1869.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 915 to 865 (-5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Liberty Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Ruins of jail where Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, and other Mormon leaders were imprisoned1904Ruins of jail where Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, and ot…
1910s–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
On the map

Liberty Township on the map, 1924 to 1984

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

Liberty Township on the 1924 USGS mapLiberty Township on the 1984 USGS map1924Winston 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.

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.

Ruins of jail where Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, and other Mormon leaders were imprisoned
Retake this viewRuins of jail where Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, and other Mormon leaders were imprisoned, 1904

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Liberty Township

Nobody well known was born in Liberty Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Martha ScottAmerican actress · b. 1912
Conrad BurnsAmerican politician · b. 1935
Wild Bill ElliottAmerican actor · b. 1904
W
Walter PageAmerican jazz musician · b. 1900
Alexander Monroe DockeryMissouri politician · b. 1845
Buzz BartonAmerican actor · b. 1913
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Bell Tower SchoolschoolCraborchard ChurchchurchRoasting Ear SchoolschoolUnion Churchchurch
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Liberty Township
Crab OrchardCreekmoreOld Union

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Union Township3 historic placesASheridan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townJefferson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMarion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLake VikingIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Liberty Township’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.