Liverpool was settled in 1808 by the Stailey family, who emigrated from Liverpool, England, for which it was named. Located beside the Susquehanna River in eastern Perry County, the community was surveyed by John Huggins and plotted by Peter Williamson that year. It was originally made up of the land between present-day North Alley and Strawberry Street. Subsequently incorporated on May 4, 1832, it is one of the nine boroughs incorporated in the county. The neighboring community of Northern Liberties was absorbed into Liverpool at the time of its incorporation.
As the population grew, so did its business offerings, civic services and industries. Its first businessmen were merchant Thomas Gallagher and hotelier John Huggins.
Passages that mention Liverpool, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement1922 · page 398Read the page →
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Liverpool Ferry. The Liverpool Ferry is older than the town of Liverpool, for when John Huggins laid out that town in 1808 he reserved "to himself, his heirs and assigns forever all ferries and ferry rights, now made or hereafter to be made or erected."
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History Of Perry County, Pennsylvania1922 · page 398Read the page →
Read the text
Liverpool Ferry. ‘The Liverpool Ferry is older than the town of Liverpool, for when John Huggins laid out that town in 1808 he reserved “to himself, his heirs and assigns forever all ferries and ferry rights, now made or hereafter to be made or erected.”
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History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement1922 · page 989Read the page →
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Elliott. The court records show that they were continued at the session of February 3, 1823. Further records are vague, but on the records of September 5, 1823, David Dechert (Deckard) was appointed constable of Liverpool Township, gave bond and was sworn in. The town of Liverpool had been laid out fifteen years prior, and from it the township took its name. Its boundaries have never changed, as have so many of the older townships.
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History Of Perry County, Pennsylvania1922 · page 987Read the page →
Read the text
Elliott. The court records show that they were continued at the session of February 3, 1823. Further records are vague, but on the records of September 5, 1823, David Dechert (Deckard) was appointed constable of Liverpool Township, gave bond and was sworn in. The town of Liverpool had been laid out fifteen years prior, and from it the township took its name. Its boundaries have never changed, as have so many of the older townships.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Liverpool, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1830s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2008
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