Niederwald

Niederwald, fifteen miles northeast of San Marcos in eastern Hays County, was founded by German pioneers after the Civil War. The name, which means "brushwood," referred to a growth of mesquite in the shallow valley where the Germans settled alongside the old Austin–San Antonio road. Niederwald had one of the original public schools in the county, New Hope (1877), and between 1902 and 1904, a post office. A church was established in 1906 and served the community at least through the 1940s. From about 100 in 1930 the population slowly declined, to less than eighty by 1970. Though in the early 1950s Niederwald had several cooperatives–including a community building, a general store, a credit union, a gin, and a newspaper-the town did not report any rated businesses from the early 1960s through 1990. In 1990 Niederwald was an incorporated community with 233 residents and the town had spread into Caldwell County. The population was 584 in 2000.