More historic than 5% of U.S. towns · #264 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Liberty Lake was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1980.
Founding year: the first Liberty Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 2001.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Liberty Lake’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Liberty Lake is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns, #264 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Liberty Lake’s overall grade.
Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Liberty Lake’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (27% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 2001.
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 Lake’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first homestead on modern-day Liberty Lake was established in 1871 by Etienne Eduard La Liberte, a Quebec-born mail carrier known locally as Stephen Liberty, for whom the lake is named. The area was also known as Arturdee. The lake later became a recreation destination for Spokane residents and a resort hotel was built on the north shore. A private club purchased 50 acres (20 ha) on the north side of the lake in 1945 for a nine-hole golf course and residential community. The land was sold to the county government in 1957 and became the Liberty Lake Golf Course, a public facility. Liberty Lake itself was noted for its trout fishing and had four lakeside resorts by 1959.
The Liberty Lake post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 2001.
How does Liberty Lake rank for history?
Liberty Lake is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns, #264 of 285 in Washington. 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.
How old are the homes in Liberty Lake?
0.9% of Liberty Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 2005.
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), 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.
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