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History · Liberty

35% of Liberty’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1900 on and old-book passages.

0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Liberty’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Liberty are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19003 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1984. Watch Liberty change.Old housesHalf of Liberty’s homes were built before 1948.
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Start Liberty’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Liberty’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Liberty on the map, 1900 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Liberty. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Liberty on the 1900 USGS mapLiberty on the 1962 USGS mapLiberty on the 1984 USGS map1900Lancaster sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Liberty.

The story so far

Liberty, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Liberty yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Liberty is a town in Grant County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 543 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Stitzer, Wisconsin is in the town. The town was named from the American ideal of liberty.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 553 in 2010, 543 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Liberty, 1881–1900

Passages that mention Liberty, cut from the printed page as they were published.

connection with the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad to Lancaster on or before November 1, 1878. The sense of the meeting was favorable to accepting the proposition; the necessary legal steps were taken, both in Lancaster and the towns between that and the Wisconsin River ; Liberty and Fennimore also …
[History of Grant County, Wisconsin, preceded by a history of Wisconsin1881 · page 545Read the page →
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connection with the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad to Lancaster on or before November 1, 1878. The sense of the meeting was favorable to accepting the proposition; the necessary legal steps were taken, both in Lancaster and the towns between that and the Wisconsin River ; Liberty and Fennimore also voted aid sufficient to make up a subscription of $5,000 per mile, and by May 16, the railroad force was actively at work in the county; and with such expedition was the work pushed that, although the cars were not running from Woodman to Lancaster by November 1, they did actually enter the town January 1, 1879, and thus the only successful attempt was made to penetrate with a railroad the interior of Grant County.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
There is a post-office and railroad station called Liberty Ridge near the Rock church in Section 19. ELLENBORO.
History of Grant County Wisconsin1900 · page 749Read the page →
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There is a post-office and railroad station called Liberty Ridge near the Rock church in Section 19. ELLENBORO.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
5, were taken off* from Cassville and added to Beetown, and sections 6 and 7 of Town 5, R. 4, were taken from Beetown and added to Patch Grove. In 1851 the towns of Muscoda and Ellenboro were organized; in 1852, Liberty; in 1853, Millville, taking most of what is now Wyalusing, a large portion of P…
History of Grant County Wisconsin1900 · page 138Read the page →
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5, were taken off* from Cassville and added to Beetown, and sections 6 and 7 of Town 5, R. 4, were taken from Beetown and added to Patch Grove. In 1851 the towns of Muscoda and Ellenboro were organized; in 1852, Liberty; in 1853, Millville, taking most of what is now Wyalusing, a large portion of Patch Grove, and all of the pres¬ ent town of Millville. In 1854 Wyalusing and Marion were created; in 1856, Little Grant, Blue River, Hickory Grove, and Watterstown; in 1859, the towns of Boscobel, Glen Haven, and Lander (soon

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.

Timeline

Liberty, 1861 to 1900

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861Post officeThe Fair View post office opens
  3. 1879Post officeThe Stitzer post office opens
  4. 1881Post officeThe Fair View post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Fair View, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Fair View
1861–1881
Stitzer
1879–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Stitzer
1cemetery inside Liberty
Fairview

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

CliftonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorth LancasterIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEllenboroIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFennimoreIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Liberty’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.