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Lynn Hall Apr 10Photo: Pubdog · Public domain
AHistory
History · Liberty Township

Liberty Township dates to 1785, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 86% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Lynn Hall. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1933 on, and the census since 2000.

1785founded
1on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Liberty Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Liberty Township began

When was Liberty Township founded?

1785

Liberty Township dates its founding to 1785 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 2000.

First census: 1,726 in 20002020 census: 1,607241 years

How historic is Liberty Township?

A

More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1851.The full story ↓
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 86% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Liberty Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1785, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194023.4% of homes (±6.0) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 13.0 per 10,000 residents · typical PA town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 86%
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 13.0 sits above most of its state (80% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1785.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points).

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Township’s past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Liberty Township, and 4 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1785: 241 years of Liberty Township.
★ 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.

Burtville
1851–today
Portage Creek
1872–1905
Wrights
1874–1963
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BurtvilleLibertyTwomileWrights
Gone or out of use
Upper Open Brook Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Liberty Township
Grimes DistrictLewis HillPortage ValleySaint Gabriels

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

Timeline

Liberty Township, 1785 to 1963

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1785
    FoundingLiberty Township is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - McKean County - ED 42-33, …
  5. 1851Post officeThe Burtville post office opens
  6. 1872Post officeThe Portage Creek post office opens
  7. 1874Post officeThe Wrights post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1905Post officeThe Portage Creek post office closes
  10. 1933On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1940In the archiveSilo and landscape near Liberty, Pennsylvania
  12. 1963Post officeThe Wrights post office closes
The story

How Liberty Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Liberty Township.

Read it all →

Lynn Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Liberty Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - McKean County - ED 42-33, ED 42-34, ED 42-35, ED 42-36, …18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Penns…
1940s9 items
Silo and landscape near Liberty, Pennsylvania1940Silo and landscape near Liberty, PennsylvaniaEast Smithfield Farms dairy. Liberty, Pennsylvania1940East Smithfield Farms dairy. Liberty, PennsylvaniaFarm landscape near Liberty, Pennsylvania, along Route 151940Farm landscape near Liberty, Pennsylvania, along Rout…Silos and threshing operations along Route 15 near Liberty, Pennsylvania1940Silos and threshing operations along Route 15 near Li…Silos and threshing operations along Route 15 near Liberty, Pennsylvania1940Silos and threshing operations along Route 15 near Li…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farm landscape near Liberty, Pennsylvania, along Route 151940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farm landscape n…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farm landscape near Liberty, Pennsylvania, along Route 151940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farm landscape n…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Silos and threshing operations along Route 15 near Liberty, Pennsylvania1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Silos and thresh…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Silos and threshing operations along Route 15 near Liberty, Pennsylvania1940Untitled 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 album
Today2 recent
Lynn Hall Apr 102010Lynn Hall Apr 10US Route 6 - Pennsylvania2006US Route 6 - Pennsylvania
On the map

Liberty Township on the map, 1933 to 1969

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 1933 USGS mapLiberty Township on the 1969 USGS map1933Smethport 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.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - McKean County - ED 42-33, ED 42-34, ED 42-35, ED 42-36, …
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - McKean County - ED 42-33, ED 42-34, ED 42-35, ED 42-36, …, 1850

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
On 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
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Lynn Hall
Lynn Hall
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Modern Movement1
Wrightian1
Lynn HallModern Movement

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

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80020002020Peak: 1,726

Between 1,604 and 1,726 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

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 →
R
Riki LindhomeAmerican actress · b. 1979
Joseph T. McNarneyUnited States Army general · b. 1893
C
Clair Alan BrownEnglish botanist · b. 1903
Fielder JonesAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1871
Albert W. JohnsonAmerican politician; U.S. representative from P… · b. 1906
Josh KinneyAmerican baseball player · b. 1979
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.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Annin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKeating TownshipIts storyB+Ceres TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorwich TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Liberty Township’s history

What year was Liberty Township founded?

In 1785, according to Wikidata. Liberty Township’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 2000 counted 1,726 people here.

How does Liberty Township rank for history?

Liberty Township is more historic than 86% 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 Lynn Hall (listed 2007).

How old are the homes in Liberty Township?

23% of Liberty Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1970.

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 (3), 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.