Maxdale, Texas. (original) (raw)

Maxdale Cemetery
Photo courtesy Gary Castillo, November 2014

History in a Pecan Shell

A post office opened here in 1883 although there had been some settlement prior to that. The population the following year was reported to be 20. A school and two churches were soon evident, although the community had to wait for a store. By 1914 a store was in operation and eleven years later, Maxdale hit its population high-water mark with 50 residents. The post office closed in 1926 and the town began a long decline, reaching just 15 people in the later 1960s. The town now has a community center located just east of the former town and Maxdale only appears on detailed Bell County maps.

Historical Marker (S of bridge):

MAXDALE CEMETERY

Established in the 1860s to serve the rural community of Pleasant Grove, this cemetery is one of the oldest in Bell County. Land for the graveyard was given by Frank N. McBryde, Sr., whose 1883 application for a post office for the community resulted in the name change to Maxdale. The earliest documented grave is that of Louisa Marlar (1849-1867), although an 1863 tombstone marks the site of a grave reinterred here from another location. Others interred here include pioneer settlers and veterans of the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and Korea.
(1989)

The 1914 Through Truss Bridge in Maxdale
Photo courtesy Gary Castillo, November 2014

Another view of the 1914 Through Truss Bridge
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2008

Maxdale Through Truss Bridge plaque
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2008

Maxdale 1863 Cemetery gate
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2008

Bell County Texas 1907 Postal Map showing Maxdale
(Western corner of Bell County)
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

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