{"id":5823,"date":"2023-07-16T18:21:31","date_gmt":"2023-07-16T18:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=5823"},"modified":"2026-08-16T19:08:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T19:08:23","slug":"liberty-county-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/liberty-county-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty County, Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Liberty County is a county in Montana, United States, on the state&rsquo;s northern border with Canada. It had a population of 1,959 at the 2020 census and covers 1,447 square miles (3,750 km2) centred near 48&deg;33&prime;N 111&deg;02&prime;W.<\/p>\n<p>Chester is the county seat and its postal code is 59522. The county has one incorporated town, several census-designated places, three Hutterite colonies and a handful of unincorporated communities. Liberty County observes Mountain Time.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Liberty County<\/h2>\n<p>Liberty County has one incorporated town &mdash; Chester, the seat &mdash; plus census-designated places, Hutterite colonies and smaller unincorporated places. &ldquo;CDP&rdquo; below means census-designated place (recognised by the Census Bureau but not self-governing); &ldquo;Unincorp.&rdquo; means an unincorporated place with no formal municipal status.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Chester<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>847<\/td>\n<td>59522<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Joplin<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>59531<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Whitlash<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>59545<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lothair<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>59461<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tiber<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Eagle Creek Colony<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Riverview Colony<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Sage Creek Colony<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Buelow<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hill<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Old Banks Place<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tiber Dam Camp<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Eagle Creek Colony, Riverview Colony and Sage Creek Colony are Hutterite agricultural communities, common across this stretch of Montana&rsquo;s Hi-Line. Tiber and Tiber Dam Camp sit at the southwestern end of the county near the reservoir; neither has its own ZIP code and mail is routed through Chester or Loma in neighbouring Chouteau County.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>59522 &mdash; Chester (also serves Buelow, Hill and Old Banks Place)<\/li>\n<li>59531 &mdash; Joplin<\/li>\n<li>59545 &mdash; Whitlash<\/li>\n<li>59461 &mdash; Lothair<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Tiber and Tiber Dam Camp have no dedicated ZIP code of their own.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Liberty County sits on the Hi-Line, the strip of north-central Montana that runs along U.S. Highway 2 and the Great Northern rail line just south of the Canadian border. The land is rolling dryland-farming prairie in the north and east, giving way to the Marias River breaks and the Tiber Dam reservoir (Lake Elwell) in the southwest corner, a popular boating and walleye-fishing destination. Of the county&rsquo;s 1,447 square miles, 1,430 square miles are land and 17 square miles are water.<\/p>\n<p>Liberty County borders <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/toole-county\/\">Toole County<\/a> to the west, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/pondera-county\/\">Pondera County<\/a> to the southwest, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/chouteau-county\/\">Chouteau County<\/a> to the south and <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/hill-county\/\">Hill County<\/a> to the east. To the north, the county line is the international border with Alberta, Canada.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Liberty County had 1,959 residents at the 2020 census, spread almost entirely across rural land &mdash; the Census Bureau classes the county as 100% rural. Chester, with 847 residents, is by far the largest community; Joplin is the second-largest named place. Density works out to roughly 1.4 people per square mile of land, among the lowest in the state. A county-specific median household income figure was not independently verified for this profile; statewide, Montana&rsquo;s median household income is $70,804.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Liberty County&rsquo;s economy is built on dryland wheat farming and cattle ranching, part of Montana&rsquo;s &ldquo;Golden Triangle&rdquo; grain belt. Chester serves as the county&rsquo;s trade centre, with Liberty County Public Schools as a major local employer. Lake Elwell, formed by Tiber Dam, draws anglers and boaters from across the Hi-Line each summer and is the county&rsquo;s main recreational draw.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Liberty County was organised on February 11, 1920, after a 1919 vote to split the territory off from Hill and Chouteau counties. It was one of several new Montana counties carved out during the state&rsquo;s early-20th-century county-splitting boom, when homesteaders pushed for courthouses closer to home than the older, larger counties could offer.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. Highway 2, the Hi-Line highway, runs east&ndash;west through Chester and follows the BNSF Railway&rsquo;s former Great Northern main line. Montana Highway 223 runs south from Chester to Tiber Dam.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Havre &mdash; about 35 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Shelby &mdash; about 40 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Cut Bank &mdash; about 50 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Great Falls &mdash; about 95 miles south<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The nearest commercial airport is Great Falls International Airport, roughly 95 miles south of Chester.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Liberty County, Montana?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt is in north-central Montana, on U.S. Highway 2 along the Canadian border, between Hill County to the east and Toole County to the west.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Liberty County?<\/strong><br \/>\nLiberty County had a population of 1,959 at the 2020 census.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Liberty County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe county covers 1,447 square miles (3,750 km2), of which 1,430 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Liberty County?<\/strong><br \/>\nChester is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and communities are in Liberty County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe county has one incorporated town, Chester, plus census-designated places, three Hutterite colonies and several smaller unincorporated places &mdash; 12 named communities in total.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes are in Liberty County?<\/strong><br \/>\n59522 (Chester), 59531 (Joplin), 59545 (Whitlash) and 59461 (Lothair).<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Tiber Dam?<\/strong><br \/>\nTiber Dam impounds the Marias River in the southwestern corner of Liberty County, forming Lake Elwell, a reservoir known locally for walleye fishing and boating.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/montana\/\">Towns and villages in Montana<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Liberty County is a county in Montana, United States, on the state&rsquo;s northern border with Canada. It had a population of 1,959 at the 2020 census and covers 1,447 square miles (3,750 km2) centred near 48&deg;33&prime;N 111&deg;02&prime;W. Chester is the county seat and its postal code is 59522. The county has one incorporated town, several [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Liberty County, Montana","_seopress_titles_desc":"Liberty County, Montana: population, Chester the county seat, ZIP codes, Tiber Dam, bordering counties, history and travel facts.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-5823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-montana","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5823"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10221,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5823\/revisions\/10221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}