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Walker County TX
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NEW WAVERLY, TEXAS


Walker County, East Texas

30°32'21"N 95°28'48"W (30.539226, -95.479862)

Hwy 75 and I-45
13 miles S of Huntsville the county seat
17 miles N of Conroe
55 miles N of Houston
ZIP code 77358
Area code 936
Population: 1,142 (2020)
1,032 (2010) 950 (2000) 936 (1990)

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New Waverly Texas depot
New Waverly Depot
Vintage photo courtesy Library of Congress
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History in a Pecan Shell

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.


An abbreviated timeline of significant events:
In 1873 a post office was granted.
In 1884 the town had 150 residents.
By 1896 the population had reached 250.
In 1900 the town had a healthy population of 500.
By mid-century it had declined somewhat to just over 400.
The population was about 600 in the 60s – 700 in the 70s, 800 in the 80s, and 900 in the 90s.

The economy is still driven by lumber – an industry that has influenced New and Waverly, Texas, and Elmira for over 100 years.



St Joseph's Catholic Church

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark

101 Elmore St
New Waverly

 St Josephs Catholic Church, New Waverly Tx
Photo courtesy Mildred L. Brown, September 2007

Historical Marker:

St Joseph's Catholic Church

The Rev. Felix Orzechowski, who came to Texas in 1866 to answer an appeal for Polish missionaries, organized St. Joseph's Parish in 1869. The first Catholic church in Walker County, it served the many Polish families who settled this area in the 1870s. Church tradition often sustained the immigrants until they adjusted to life in a new country. Services were held outdoors or in private homes during Father Orzechowski's pastorate. Soon after leaving this parish in 1876, he returned to Poland and was imprisoned by ruling Russian officials for advocating democratic ideals.

A frame church building was erected in 1877 under the direction of the Rev. Victor Justiana Linicki, who was a Polish baron before he became a priest. A larger edifice, designed by Tom Lavandoski, was built in 1897, and the original structure was used as a school. The present church was begun in 1905 and dedicated on the feast of St. Joseph, March 19, 1908, during the pastorate of the Rev. Thomas Aloysius Bily (1859-1921). The stately Gothic-style structure, designed by L.S. Green, reflects the European heritage of the parishioners.

The parish school was operated until 1951. St. Joseph's Catholic Church continues to minister to descendants of New Waverly's historic Polish community.

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1975

 St Joseph's Catholic Church historical marker, New Waverly Tx
St Joseph's Catholic Church historical marker
Photo courtesy Mildred L. Brown, September 2007


 St Josephs Catholic Church steeple , New Waverly Tx
St Josephs Catholic Church steeple
TE photo, January 2005


New Waverly Tx St Josephs Catholic Church
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2005
More Texas Churches



Ghosts of Old Waverly and the Old Waverly Cemetery
An East Texas Tale of Two Hills
Old Waverly’s fade into oblivion may be short of tragic elements, but two separate stories were enough to have it included in the late Ed Sayer’s Ghosts of Texas. When one considers the cottage industry that spooks and spirits have become in recent years, it’s an accomplishment to be included as one of the fifty-odd stories in what is considered to be the first volume written on Texas Ghosts.

The sites of the stories are several miles apart in what remains today of the dense forest that was laboriously pushed back by slave labor to plant cotton.

Click here for the stories



New Waverly, Texas Chronicles:
  • William Burroughs in Texas by Clay Coppedge



  • Take a road trip

    East Texas

    New Waverly, Texas Nearby Towns:
    Huntsville the county seat
    Old Waverly
    Conroe
    Houston
    See Walker County

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