The story
Read it all →How Liberty Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Liberty Township.
The Christian Bechdel II House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Ruhrfisch · CC BY-SA 4.0A−History
History · Liberty Township
19% of Liberty Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Christian Bechdel II House. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1921 on, and the census since 2000.
1on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
Quick answers
About Liberty Township’s history
How historic is Liberty Township?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Liberty Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Liberty Township is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Liberty Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraAge sits out for Liberty Township: no founding date holds up well enough to grade on–Homes built before 194018.8% of homes (±6.7) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 3 historic buildings, 16.0 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 82%
NewerOlder
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Liberty Township’s 16.0 sits above most of its state (81% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Eagleville
Blanchard
Monument
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Big RunBlanchardEaglevilleMonumentWest Beech
Gone or out of use
Wagner Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Liberty Township
BechdelBlanchard Church of ChristLiberty BaptistWagner
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Liberty Township on the map, 1921 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Liberty Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1921Howard sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Liberty Township.
Timeline
Liberty Township, 1839 to 1966
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1839Post officeThe Eagleville post office opens
- 1846Post officeThe Eagleville post office closes
- 1870Post officeThe Blanchard post office opens
- 1874
In the archiveAtlas of Centre County, Pennsylvania - 1899Post officeThe Monument post office opens
- 20th century
- 1921
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1940
In the archiveSilo and landscape near Liberty, Pennsylvania - 1966Post officeThe Monument post office closes
By decade
Liberty Township, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1870s1 item
1940s9 items
1940Silo and landscape near Liberty, Pennsylvania
1940East Smithfield Farms dairy. Liberty, Pennsylvania
1940Farm landscape near Liberty, Pennsylvania, along Rout…
1940Silos and threshing operations along Route 15 near Li…
1940Silos and threshing operations along Route 15 near Li…
1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farm landscape n…
1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farm landscape n…
1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Silos and thresh…
1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Silos and thresh…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 albumToday1 recent
2015Then & 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.
Retake this viewSilo and landscape near Liberty, Pennsylvania, 1940
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 · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Liberty Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Christian Bechdel II House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Georgian1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Liberty Township, census by census
Between 1,825 and 2,118 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Liberty Township’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Liberty Township
Nobody well known was born in Liberty Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Help out
Finish Liberty Township’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Beech Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBeech CreekIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMarion TownshipIts storyC−Curtin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMonumentIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPorter TownshipIts storyB−BlanchardIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHoward TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town
Questions about Liberty Township’s history
How does Liberty Township rank for history?
Liberty Township is more historic than 82% 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.
What is on the National Register in Liberty Township?
One place: the Christian Bechdel II House (listed 1982).
How old are the homes in Liberty Township?
19% of Liberty Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1984.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (9), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.