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MAXWELL, TEXAS

Maxwell is on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad at the juncture of State Highway 142 and Farm Road 1966, eight miles west of Lockhart in northwest Caldwell County. In 1887 the Katy built through the community and the original name, New Martindale, was changed to Maxwell, in honor of Thomas Maxwell, who obtained a grant in 1845 for the league of land on which the community stands. Maxwell's earliest settlers came primarily from Alabama and other states, but in the 1880s German groups arrived; their influence is still visible in the community. A Methodist church built in 1882 by Rev. Ulrich Steiner also served as a school. The Lutheran church, first organized in 1886, conducted services and classes in both German and English until the early 1940s. Social life in early Maxwell centered around the dancing, singing, and shooting clubs traditional to German communities. The Maxwell Social Club was organized in 1953 to supervise athletic, educational, and recreational activities and to assist in welfare, relief, and other civic projects. Mexican farmworkers added a second large component to the local population. The earliest school in the Maxwell area met three miles outside the community, but by 1892 the Maxwell Common School District was formed and a building constructed with private subscriptions. In 1907, when the common-school district became an independent school district, this building was moved to serve as a school for blacks. By 1927 three separate schools served 438 white, Mexican, and black students. The Maxwell post office was established in 1888. The population increased from twenty-five to 100 between 1890 and 1892, and the town acquired two general stores, a gristmill, and a gin. Fire almost destroyed Maxwell on three occasions-in 1887, in 1910, after which the town rebuilt its commercial area in brick, and in 1922. Maxwell had a population of 225, two churches, two general stores, two cotton gins, and a bank in 1914 and later three cotton gins, a restaurant, a physician, a drugstore, and numerous retail establishments. In 1929 the town had a population of 400 and eighteen businesses. It subsequently declined. In 1980 the community was the location for the filming of a movie, Raggedy Man, in which locals appeared in small roles. The Katy Railroad, purchased by the Union Pacific, opened new routes to San Marcos in 1989. In 1990 Maxwell had the post office, nine small businesses, and a population of 185. The population grew to 500 by 2000. The community's largest employer, the Nagle Manufacturing and Supply Company, manufactured coathangers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Austin American, April 7, 1948. Onita Gambrell King, History of the First Methodist Church, Lockhart (Austin: Steck, 1953). Lockhart Post-Register, November 12, 1953. Mark Withers Trail Drive Museum, Historical Caldwell County (Dallas: Taylor, 1984). "Post Offices-Postmasters-Caldwell County, 1848-1981," Plum Creek Almanac, Spring 1984.

Barbara Stock