In an old familiar story, Waverly, Texas was once content being simply Waverly, Texas. Then came the railroad.

The Houston and Great Northern Railroad Company came through the area and in those times railroads didn’t have the best of reputations. Locals thought twice about granting a right-of-way and turned the railroad’s offer down.

In the second act of the old familiar story, the railroad came through ten miles west of town and established “Waverly Station” in 1870. Naturally the people in business and other residents were drawn to the new town to maintain contact with the rest of the world. The station became “New Waverly.”

In the late 1800s Polish families were recruited from Europe and became tenant farmers in the region. Poles also settled in towns like Brenham, Thurber, Malakoff , Palestine and a cluster of communities around Panna Maria SE of San Antonio.