Liberty Lake

History

The first homestead on modern-day Liberty Lake was established in 1871 by Etienne Eduard La Liberte, a Quebec-born mail carrier known locally as Stephen Liberty, for whom the lake is named. The area was also known as Arturdee. The lake later became a recreation destination for Spokane residents and a resort hotel was built on the north shore. A private club purchased on the north side of the lake in 1945 for a nine-hole golf course and residential community. The land was sold to the county government in 1957 and became the Liberty Lake Golf Course, a public facility. Liberty Lake itself was noted for its trout fishing and had four lakeside resorts by 1959. A sewer district around Liberty Lake was formed in 1973 to address water pollution issues within the lake that had been studied by Washington State University. A sewage system was built later in the decade and was followed by a wastewater treatment plant in 1982. A citizens' group proposed the incorporation of Liberty Lake into a city in the late 1990s to manage recent residential and commercial growth in the community. Liberty Lake was officially incorporated on August 31, 2001, but the lake remained outside of the city's boundaries. Within its first three years, the city government purchased a private golf course, expanded an existing community library, and established a police department with six officers.

Geography

Liberty Lake is located in the Spokane Valley. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. Liberty Lake is one of the fastest-growing communities in the State of Washington. Liberty Lake is south of the Spokane River from Otis Orchards-East Farms, Washington, east of Greenacres, Washington (now part of Spokane Valley, Washington), and west of Spokane Bridge, Washington, State Line, Idaho, and Post Falls, Idaho. Areas east of Liberty Lake Road and areas north of Appleway Road lie on the relatively flat land along the floor of the Spokane Valley. Elevations there range from between 2,000 feet above sea level at the river to around 2,150 feet around Liberty Lake Elementary School. The areas west of Liberty Lake Road and south of Appleway Road show far more topographical relief, rising from around 2,100 feet to over 2,600 feet on Carlson Hill. Kramer Hill, which rises just beyond the eastern limit of the city, quickly rises to above 2,700 feet. While Mica Peak, which rises beyond the southern shore of the lake, climbs to nearly 5,200 feet.

Race & ethnicity