Waverly is a city in Bremer County, Iowa, United States.

Because of their alleged assistance given to Chief Black Hawk during the Blackhawk War of 1832, the Winnebago were forced to cede their lands east of the Mississippi and to move to Neutral Ground in what is now northeastern Iowa.

In an 1845 treaty, the Winnebago exchanged their Iowa lands for the 800,000-acre (3,200 km2) Long Prairie (Crow Wing River) reserve in Minnesota and $190,000.

In 1848, a detachment of United States troops from Fort Atkinson, Iowa, came to enforce the removal.

In 1865, after the constant upheaval cost 700 tribal members’ lives, the current Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska was established by the treaties of 1865 and 1874.

William Patterson Harmon came to Waverly in the spring of 1853 with the idea of establishing a town and a saw mill.

The speaker at the ceremony was said to have been a fan of Sir Walter Scott's Waverley novels and when it came time to name the town (which settlers had wanted to call Harmonville or Harmon) he inadvertently called it Waverly.

The myth goes that Jennie Harmon Case later wrote that it was her father who was the speaker and that he made the decision to name the town after the favorite book, instead of the proposed "Harmonville."

Coincidentally, Bremer County's name also honors a person eminent in literature.

Among the noted buildings in the listing is the WPA-era post office, which contains a mural designed by artist Mildred W. Pelzer for the Section of Painting and Sculpture, later called the Section of Fine Arts, of the Treasury Department.

[9] The racial composition of the city was predominantly White (94.1%), with African Americans making up 1.0%, Asians 1.5%, Hispanics or Latinos 2.0%, and 1.3% identifying as two or more races.

[18] The district strives "to create a passion for learning that will sustain students for a lifetime".

Waverly-Shell Rock Senior High completed building a new auditorium and gymnasium in 2008.

More than half of the students come from neighboring congregations and assistance is given to families who demonstrate financial need.

The school offers a Gifted and Talented program; a Partners in Education Program, in which students and residents at Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community work together; and several unique opportunities in the fine arts.

Major employers in Waverly include CUNA Mutual Group, Waverly Health Center, Wartburg College, Nestlé Beverage, Waverly-Shell Rock Community School District, Peoples Insurance Agency and the GMT Corporation.

WLP has set a goal known as "20 by 20-20" which means they are striving to generate 20% of its energy with renewable sources by the year 2020.

The latest step in reaching that goal is to build a new ISEP energy park in Dallas County.

[citation needed] Waverly Light & Power has also helped development of soybean-based transformer oil.

Waverly may have the highest national per capita concentration of ordained Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) clergy.

This estimate was made during the days preceding the ELCA decision regarding Called to Common Mission.

The fictional biography of the Marvel Comics character Hawkeye, who is part of the Avengers superhero group, puts his birthplace in Waverly.

The film Ice Castles and its 2010 remake use Waverly as a locales, including being the hometown of the protagonists.