Liberty Township, Darke County, Ohio

Liberty Township is one of the twenty townships of Darke County, Ohio, United States. The 2010 census found 1,071 people in the township,[3] 871 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.[4]

Liberty Township, Darke County, Ohio
Township
The Clemens Farmhouse, a historic site in the township
Location in Darke County and the state of Ohio
Coordinates: 40°3′20″N 84°45′26″W
CountryUnited States
StateOhio
CountyDarke
Area
 • Total33.3 sq mi (86.2 km2)
 • Land33.2 sq mi (86.0 km2)
 • Water0.08 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation1,161 ft (354 m)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total1,071
 • Density32/sq mi (12.5/km2)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
FIPS code39-43092[2]
GNIS feature ID1086017[1]

Geography

Located in the southwestern part of the county, it borders the following townships:

The village of Palestine is located in central Liberty Township.

Name and history

One of twenty-five Liberty Townships statewide,[5] it was originally named German Township, but its name was changed to Liberty Township in the 1910s.[6]

German Township was formed from parts of Harrison and Washington counties in 1820. The first settler within its bounds was James Cloyd, who arrived six years before the township's organization.[7]:552 The first school in the township was established near Palestine in 1820, while the first church (a Lutheran congregation) was built in 1826.[7]:553

One of German Township's most distinctive features was Tampico, an African-American settlement founded in 1822 and platted in 1850. Located in the northwestern part of the township, its earliest residents were freeborn African Americans from Rockingham County, Virginia who moved to Ohio after the county evicted all freeborn African Americans. In 1914, Tampico and the surrounding rural areas supported four schools and two churches.[7]:554

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 fiscal officer,[8] 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 fiscal officership or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees. The current trustees are Larry Helmer, Cutis Hiatt, and Raymond Mendenhall, and the clerk is Deborah Kuhnle.[9]

References
  1. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  2. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  3. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Liberty township, Darke County, Ohio". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  4. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Remainder of Liberty township, Liberty township, Darke County, Ohio". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 14, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  5. "Detailed map of Ohio" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2000. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
  6. Fourteenth Census of the United States: State Compendium, Volume 34: Ohio: Statistics of population occupations, agriculture, manufactures, and mines and quarries for the State, counties, and cities. Footnote 6. Bureau of the Census, United States Department of Commerce. 1925.
  7. Wilson, Frazer Ells (1914). History of Darke County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time. Milford, Ohio: Hobart Publishing Company. p. 552.
  8. §503.24, §505.01, and §507.01 of the Ohio Revised Code. Accessed 4/30/2009.
  9. Township Trustees Archived June 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Darke County. Accessed 2007-06-01.
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