Maxwell, Texas

Maxwell is an unincorporated community in Caldwell County, Texas, United States. Maxwell and Caldwell County are within the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area.HistoryThe community 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.Mexican farmworkers added a second large component to the local population.Social life in early Maxwell centered on 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.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. 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.