[5] The framework for the City of Waverly began in 1855, when the territorial legislature passed an act organizing Wright County.

Prior to European settlement, Waverly was predominantly Big Woods which included a mixture of oak, maple, basswood and hickory.

The settlement known as Waverly Mills was beginning to take shape, as approximately three hundred acres were surveyed and platted.

After a rough start with a bank panic, financial crash and subsequent grasshopper infestations, Waverly Mills managed to survive.

Its saw and grist milling industry help to establish a store, post office and log church with a cemetery at this location.

Waverly Station was laid out by the railroad company on their land in the southwest quarter of section 33, at about the time that regular trains commenced operating in this locality in 1868.

[6] The prosperity of Waverly in those early days was aided by both railroad traffic and by patronage of the surrounding settlers in Woodland and Marysville Townships.

Many of these early farmers hailed from various parts of the United States, French Canada and European countries specifically from Sweden, Ireland, Germany, Prussia, Austria and Switzerland.

These pioneers supported Waverly's many institutions which included a post office, bank, newspapers, city hall, churches, creamery, school, grain elevators, flouring mills, saw mill, insurance agencies, hotels, livery stables, general stores, hardware dealers, furniture shops, lumber companies, bakery, meat markets, millinery shops, saloons and a drugstore to name just a few.

Some claim that Waverly's businesses and buildings were some of the largest and finest in Wright County at their height of development.

The large influx of new residents during this short time beckoned back to Waverly's historical boom period prior to 1900.