Figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau in the spring of 1930 included a bit of a surprise for Sullivan County residents, revealing that Monticello had passed the village of Liberty to become the largest village in the County in terms of population.

Monticello was reported to have 3,450 residents in 1930, up by 1,120 from ten years before, while Liberty had gained just 968 residents in the decade, and fell to second place with a population of 3,427.

The sting the new count carried with it was apparent in the coverage of Liberty's foremost weekly newspaper, The Liberty Register, which typically had announced census results on its front page with headlines trumpeting the village's claim to the top spot. In its May 22, 1930 edition, the paper again carried its census coverage on page one, but chose to highlight the fact that the town of Liberty was the county's largest, barely mentioning the fact that Monticello had edged out Liberty as the largest village.

“Liberty Township County's Largest; Population 6,959” the front page headline announced.

“Although the village of Monticello has a larger population by 23 than the village of Liberty, the township of Liberty has a population lead of more than 1,000 over the township of Thompson, according to the latest federal census,” the paper reported.

Sullivan County's population in 1930 was 35,272, which was a gain of 2,109 residents over the 1920 census, and reversed a trend from ten years prior, which had actually seen the county lose nearly 2 per cent of its population.

The 1930 census was also the first time the county's population had exceeded its 1870 peak, which had been 34,550. The county's population had declined in both the 1880 and 1890 census, and although it had rebounded a bit thereafter, it still stood at just 33,163 in 1920.

Sullivan County's population grew by 7.5 per cent from 1930 to 1940, when it reached 37,901, and by another 7.5 per cent between 1940 and 1950, when it exceeded 40,000 for the first time, with a population of 40,731.

Monticello was incorporated in 1830, the first community in Sullivan County to become an official village, and by the time Liberty had incorporated in 1870, becoming the county's fourth village, Monticello's population had grown to 912. The first census that counted Liberty as a village was in 1880, and it revealed that 478 residents resided within the village limits. At that point, Monticello's population had grown to 941.

But Liberty underwent phenomenal growth over the next 20 years, reaching a population of 734 in 1890, a gain of 53.6 per cent, and 1,760 by 1900, a jump of nearly 140 per cent over the decade. Monticello's population grew at a much smaller rate during that 20-year period, and by 1900 stood at just 1,160. That was the first time Liberty was officially the largest village in the County, and it remained so until the 1930 census.

That 1930 blip notwithstanding, Liberty was back on top of the heap again in the 1940 census, when it was listed as having a population of 3,788 while Monticello stood at 3,737.

The Register announced that fact in a front page story in its July 11, 1940 edition with the headline, “Liberty Is New Leader of the County in Population.”

“Monticello, county seat of Sullivan County, which—according to the 1930 census—established itself as the largest village in the county by the scant margin of 23 over Liberty, has relinquished that position according to census figures gained today,” the paper announced.

The same story also reported that the 1940 census revealed that Acidalia was the smallest community in Sullivan County.

“The smallest populated village in the county is Acidalia, in the extreme western part of the county, a once thriving wood acid making center which now has but three residents, all of them women,” the Register noted.

By 1950, Sullivan County's population had surpassed 40,000 for the first time at 40,731, and the population of the village of Liberty stood at 4,658 while Monticello's was 4,223. Ten years later, Liberty's population had reached 4,704, while Monticello increased by 23.7 per cent to 5,222, making it once again the largest village in the county. It has maintained that position ever since.

In the 2010 census, Monticello's population was 6,726, an all-time high, while Liberty's population, which had peaked at 4,704 in 1960, stood at 4,392. Both villages are expected to have lost significant population over the last ten years and lower numbers are predicted for both in 2020.

Meanwhile, Sullivan County's population continued to grow steadily, topping 50,000 for the first time in 1970 (52,580), 65,000 in 1980 (65,155) and 75,000 in 2010 (77,547).

Reports on the 2020 census show Sullivan County residents are lagging far behind those in other counties in New York State and the nation in filing the forms used to compile up-to-date population figures.

Residents who have so far failed to return their census questionnaires are reminded that the decennial census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution, and the information collected is used to apportion federal aid to local governments, to determine representation in the U.S. Congress, and to help redraw congressional, state, and local district boundaries to contain roughly equal numbers of people and ensure each person's voting power is closely equivalent (meeting the one-person, one-vote rule).

And the census is obviously critical in determining bragging rights as the largest village in the county as Monticello and Liberty continue their tale of two villages.

John Conway is the Sullivan County Historian. Email him at jconway52@hotmail.com and ask how to purchase his new book, “In Further Retrospect.”