Two Towns Named Liberty

The original town of Liberty was a mining camp along the banks of Swauk Creek near the intersection of Liberty Road and Hwy 97. The first post office was established there in 1892 and the locals wanted it called the Swauk Post Office, but the postal officials did not want that name getting confused with the already established Sauk Post Office located on the Sauk River. The naming of the Liberty Post Office is credited to the first postmaster Gustaf "Bull" Nilson. 

The story goes that when the postal inspector was discussing the naming of the place a group of miners came in and Nilson told them, "your at liberty boys, so go ahead and sit down as you please." When Nilson and the inspector came to a loss at what to name the new office, Nilson asked the group of men what would be a good name for the new post office other than the name Swauk. After a moment of thought the boys suggested "Liberty" and the name stuck. 

By 1895, most of the new mining was being done a few miles up Williams Creek east of the town. This new mining camp was called "Meaghersville". By 1912 the post office was moved to Meaghersville and instead of changing the name of the post, they decided to just change the name of Meaghersville to Liberty and the new town was born. Slowly the old town of Liberty began to fade as everyone was moving to the new town. The last remaining building in the old town was the Chic Cafe, which burned to the ground in 1962.

Today nothing remains of the original town of Liberty. The new town continues to thrive with a few residents and is now a tourist destination.