Maxdale

Maxdale is on the Lampasas River eight miles southwest of Killeen in southwestern Bell County. It was established sometime before 1883, when a post office was opened in the community. In 1884 Maxdale had a population of twenty, two churches, a district school, and a cotton gin. It had a general store by 1914 and reached a peak population of fifty in 1925. The post office was closed the next year. In 1948 Maxdale had three businesses and two churches. The community declined in the 1950s and 1960s and had a population of only fifteen by 1968. By 1979 many of its houses were empty, though a new focus for community life, the Maxdale Community Center, had been built a mile east of the old townsite. The population of Maxdale was reported to be four in 1988 through 2000.