Liberty’s post office opened in 1825, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns · #212 of 758 in New York. What drives it
13 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 141 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 2000.
The Liberty post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Stevensville (1849), Robertsonville (1851) and Cooley (1896), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 9,632 in 20002020 census: 10,159201 years
How historic is Liberty?
A
More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Liberty post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Liberty’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Liberty is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #212 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Liberty’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Liberty’s 149 sits above most of its state (80% of New York towns have fewer) while its 154 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Liberty’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Liberty, building by building, 1887–1916
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.
The town of Liberty area is credited with providing 303 men who fought in the Revolution. Liberty was carved originally from the then large township of Lumberland and was itself at this time so large that it included the present Towns of Callicoon and Fremont. The Town today covers 85 square miles.
When the first settlers came to this area, known as the Blue Mountain country, they settled to the Northwest of the present village at the existing Revonah Lake formerly known as Broadhead Pond. The early settlers came here from Connecticut and some of the oldest remains left in the Town are the laid up stones in the outlet of Revonah Lake which were probably placed there in 1797 for the purpose of building the first sawmill in the area.
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.
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.
The Liberty post office opened in 1825, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Liberty rank for history?
Liberty is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #212 of 758 in New York. 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 Liberty?
13 listings: 10 buildings and 3 historic districts, the Liberty Village Historic District, the Liberty Downtown Historic District and the All Souls’ Church Summer Camp Historic District, with 141 contributing buildings. 154 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Liberty?
25% of Liberty’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (15), the National Register of Historic Places (13), 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.
1875
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
2012
2012
2009
2009
2008
