Liberty, the former county seat of Montgomery county, is located in Liberty township on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., 10 miles east of Independence, the county seat. It has a bank and a weekly newspaper (the Liberty Sentinel). It is an incorporated city of 385 inhabitants, according to the census of 1910, has telegraph and express offices and a money order postoffice with three rural routes. Liberty was established by the citizens of the towns of Verdigris and Montgomery in 1869, the original site being 6 miles south of Independence. It was made the county seat in the same year, but retained the honors only a few months. When the railroad was built in 1870, the town was removed several miles to its present site. One of the early important industries was the flour mill of John McTaggart, which was built in 1875 at a cost of $14,000, and had a cotton gin in connection with it.