Likiep Atoll also possesses the Marshall Islands' highest point, an unnamed knoll 10 meters (33 ft) above sea level.

[2] The first recorded sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Ruy López de Villalobos in January 1543.

On 12 January 1565, it was Legazpi who arrived to Likiep Atoll and charted them as Los Corrales ("farmyards" in Spanish).

[3] In 1877, Likiep Atoll was purchased by Georg Eduard Adolph Capelle, a German trader, and partner with whaler Anton Debrum in the trading firm Capelle & Co, which traded extensively in copra and marine products throughout Micronesia.

Debrum House (1890), on Likiep Island, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.