Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Liebenthal, KS

Liebenthal is a tiny incorporated city in Rush County, Kansas, located on Big Timber Creek about eight miles north of La Crosse, the county seat.

Liebenthal was founded on February 22, 1876, by about 14 families of Volga German immigrants, roughly 60 people, who named it after their home village of Liebenthal in Russia.

Liebenthal is considered the first Volga German settlement in Kansas and one of the oldest of the German-Russian communities of Ellis and Rush Counties.

The settlers built sod houses at first, held Catholic services in private homes, and completed the large native-stone St. Joseph's Church between 1902 and 1905, with stained glass made by an Austrian/German artist.

Liebenthal's first parochial school was built in 1897, and the settlement received its own post office on November 28, 1899.

By the turn of the century the Liebenthal settlement had grown to more than 500 people, and its population peaked at 265 in the 1940 census.

Liebenthal was not incorporated as a city until 1935, nearly 60 years after its founding.

The 2020 census counted just 92 people in 47 households in Liebenthal, packed into about 0.13 square miles.