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History · Waelder

Waelder’s post office opened in 1874

Most of Waelder was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1939 on.

1874first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Waelder’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Waelder began

When was Waelder founded?

1874

The Waelder post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 933152 years
Founding year: the first Waelder post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Waelder’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Waelder’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Waelder’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPost office and business establishments…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Waelder, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Waelder yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Its first post office opened in 1874. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,065 to 933 (-12%).

By decade

Waelder, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s2 items
Post office and business establishments on the main street of Waelder, Texas1939Post office and business establishments on the main s…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Post office and business establishments on the main street of Waelder, Texas1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Post office and …
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Post office and business establishments on the main street of Waelder, Texas
Retake this viewPost office and business establishments on the main street of Waelder, Texas, 1939

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Waelder’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Waelder’s history

What year was Waelder founded?

The Waelder post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (2), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.