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History · Liberty Corner

Liberty Corner’s post office opened in 1811, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Liberty Corner was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1891 on.

1811first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Liberty Corner’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Liberty Corner began

When was Liberty Corner founded?

1811

The Liberty Corner post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,877215 years
Founding year: the first Liberty Corner post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Liberty Corner’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18916 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1981. Watch Liberty Corner change.Deep rootsA post office since 1811: 215 years of Liberty Corner.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Liberty Corner’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo3 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCompton House, Valley Road: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Liberty Corner on the map, 1891 to 1981

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

Liberty Corner on the 1891 USGS mapLiberty Corner on the 1905 USGS mapLiberty Corner on the 1947 USGS mapLiberty Corner on the 1954 USGS mapLiberty Corner on the 1970 USGS mapLiberty Corner on the 1981 USGS map1891Somerville 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 Corner.

Timeline

Liberty Corner, 1782 to 1891

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1782In the archiveBullion's Tavern, Amérique campagne. LOC 00552208-30 (cropped)
  3. 19th century
  4. 1857Born hereZip the Pinhead is born here
  5. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Liberty Corner came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Liberty Corner.

Read it all →

In 1722, the area was known by its primary landholder, John Annin, as "Annin's Corner." This was changed to "Liberty Corner" during the American Revolution.

On August 29, 1781, the First Brigade of the French Army, the Expédition Particulière, under command of the French general Comte de Rochambeau, camped here by Bullion's Tavern, along the route to Yorktown, Virginia. The next day they marched to the campground at Somerset Courthouse, now Millstone. The American Continental Army marched nearby along different roads as part of this joint effort.

The Bonnie Brae School for boys was an orphanage in the area. It was founded in 1916 as a "working farm" for boys. in 2018 it accepts boys that have been emotionally maltreated.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Liberty Corner, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1780s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1780s1 item
Bullion's Tavern, Amérique campagne. LOC 00552208-30 (cropped)1782Bullion's Tavern, Amérique campagne. LOC 00552208-30 …Document
Date unknown3 to date
Compton House, Valley RoadDate?Compton House, Valley RoadAnnin-Smalley House, Valley RoadDate?Annin-Smalley House, Valley RoadWilliam F. De Mott House, Valley RoadDate?William F. De Mott House, Valley Road
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.

Compton House, Valley Road
Retake this viewCompton House, Valley Road

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 82 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
82
each building in a district counts

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lyons2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBasking Ridge6 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWarren Township5 historic placesBBernards Township11 historic placesA−The HillsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Liberty Corner’s history

What year was Liberty Corner founded?

The Liberty Corner post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.