Editing Liberal, Kansas (section)

== History ==
{{See also|History of Kansas}}

Early settler Seymour S. Rogers built the first house in what would become Liberal in 1872. Rogers became famous in the region for giving free water to thirsty travelers.  Reportedly, Liberal gained its name from the common response to his acts of kindness, "That's very liberal of you."<ref name=CofL-History>[http://www.cityofliberal.com/a_history.htm ''History: Over One Hundred Years of Being "Liberal"''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318001122/http://www.cityofliberal.com/a_history.htm |date=2009-03-18 }} - at City of Liberal.com</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/a-militias-plot-to-bomb-somali-refugees-in-garden-city-ks.html|title=A Militia's Plot to Bomb Somali Refugees in a Kansas Town|last=Pressler|first=Jessica|date=12 December 2017|work=New York Magazine|access-date=2017-12-29|language=en}}</ref> In 1885 Rogers built a [[general store]], and with it came an official [[United States Postal Service|U.S. Post Office]]. Rogers named the post office 'Liberal'. After the railroad was built close by, a plan for the town site was created in 1888. A year later the population was around 800.<ref name=CofL-History />

Drought caused some farmers to give up and look for more fertile territory; however, when the nearby [[Indian Territory]] was opened, more settlers headed to the cheap land that would become [[Oklahoma]].<ref name=CofL-History />

[[Natural gas]] was discovered west of town, in what would become part of the massive [[Hugoton Natural Gas Area|Panhandle-Hugoton Gas Field]], in 1920. [[Petroleum|Oil]] was discovered southwest of town in 1951. In 1963 the largest [[helium]] plant in the world, National Helium, was opened.<ref name=CofL-History />