Liberty Township, Butler County, Ohio
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Liberty Township, one of thirteen in Butler County, Ohio, United States, is in the east-central part of the county, just south of the city of Monroe. With an area of about twenty-eight square miles it is smallest of the thirteen townships but one of the fastest growing areas in southwest Ohio, having a population of 22,819 in 2000, up sharply from 9,249 in 1990. It was named for Liberty, Pennsylvania, at the suggestion of John Morrow, a resident in the township at the time of its formation in 1803 who was the brother of Governor Jeremiah Morrow, after his hometown. The first settler was John Nelson, who arrived in 1796, seven years before Ohio became a state. It is one of twenty-five Liberty Townships in Ohio.
The northwest corner of the township has been annexed into the city of Monroe, the sole municipality in Liberty. Unincorporated places are Bethany, Hughes Station, Kyles Station, Jericho, and Princeton.
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[edit] Erection
One of the original five townships of the county, it was erected by the Butler County Court of Quarter Sessions on May 7, 1810 with these boundaries:
- Beginning at the southeast corner of section No. 14 of the second township in the second entire range on the south boundary line of the county: thence north to the Great Miami; thence northeastwardly up the Miami to the northern boundar of fractional section No. 10 of the second township in the third of military range; thence east to the eastern boundary of the county; thence south with the eastern boundary of the county to the southeast corner thereof; thence west with the southern boundary of the county to the place of beginning.
The original boundaries included what is now West Chester Township, which was separated from Liberty Township by the Butler County Commissioners on June 2, 1823. It is presently bounded on the south by West Chester Township, on the west by Fairfield Township, on the north (across the Great Miami River) by Madison Township, on the north by Lemon Township and the city of Monroe; and on the east by the Warren County townships of Turtlecreek and Deerfield and the city of Mason.
[edit] Government
The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township clerk, who serves a four-year term beginning on April 1 of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election. Vacancies in the clerkship or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees. Day-to-day functions are overseen by a township administrator, hired by the trustees, who typically has an assistant, also approved by the trustees.
[edit] Transportation, utlities, and schools
The Miami and Erie Canal passed through the northwest corner of the township. The Dayton Short Line, now the Norfolk Southern, ran through the township.
The old Cincinnati and Dayton Turnpike, later known as Dixie Highway and United States Highway 25, is now Cincinnati-Dayton Road. It connects the township to Monroe to the north and Sharonville to the south. Major highways today include the Butler County Veteran's Highway (also known as State Route 129), which connects I-75 to Hamilton through the southern tier of the township and State Route 4, which links Hamilton to Middletown. While I-75 runs through the eastern edge of the township, there are no exits in the township except onto the Butler County Veteran's Highway.
Most of the township is in Cincinnati Bell's Bethany telephone exchange, but a part in the west and southwest centered on Princeton is in Cincinnati Bell's Hamilton exchange. Electric and natural gas service is provided by the Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company.
Most of the township is served by the Middletown post office, with the Hamilton post offices serving a large area in the west. Areas on the margins of the township are served by several other post offices: West Chester in the south, Fairfield in the southwest, Lebanon on the east, and Monroe on the north. The lack of their own post office and zipcode has recently become an issue of debate amongst residents, who feel that since West Chester has its own zipcode and postoffice, Liberty should have one as well - particularly since West Chester grew out of Liberty.
Except for the northeast corner, the entire township is in the Lakota Local School District. The remainder in the northeast is in the Monroe Local School District.
[edit] Historic population figures
- 1900--1,024
- 1910--986
- 1920--1,024
- 1930--1,481
- 1940--1,628
- 1950--2,195
- 1960--3,143
- 1970--3,736
- 1980--6,506
- 1990--9,314
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Bert S. Barlow, W.H. Todhunter, Stephen D. Cone, Joseph J. Pater, and Frederick Schneider, eds. Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio. Hamilton, Ohio: B.F. Bowen, 1905.
- Jim Blount. The 1900's: 100 Years In the History of Butler County, Ohio. Hamilton, Ohio: Past Present Press, 2000.
- Butler County Engineer's Office. Butler County Official Transportation Map, 2003. Fairfield Township, Butler County, Ohio: The Office, 2003.
- A History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio with Illustrations and Sketches of Its Representative Men and Pioneers. Cincinnati, Ohio: Western Biographical Publishing Company, 1882. [1]
- Ohio. Secretary of State. The Ohio municipal and township roster, 2002-2003. Columbus, Ohio: The Secretary, 2003.
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Butler County, Ohio Hamilton, county seat |
|---|---|
| Municipalities |
College Corner | Fairfield | Hamilton | Jacksonburg | Middletown | Millville | Monroe | New Miami | Oxford | Seven Mile | Sharonville | Somerville | Trenton |
| Townships |
Fairfield | Hanover | Lemon | Liberty | Madison | Milford | Morgan | Oxford | Reily | Ross | St. Clair | Wayne | West Chester |
| Census-designated places |
Beckett Ridge | Olde West Chester | Ross | South Middletown | Wetherington |
| Other places |
Alert | Bethany | Blue Ball | Collinsville | Heno | Mauds | McGonigle | Okeana | Overpeck | Poasttown | Port Union | Scipio | Shandon | Woodsdale |
