Waelder, Gonzales County
Formerly enslaved men and women developed the Hickston Community (now known as Mt. Eden) looking to forge a new life after Emancipation. Clara Balridge, Robert and Emma Stockton and Boyd James were early landowners in this agricultural community, which provided food for several local markets and stores. The community established a school, cemetery, post office, two stores and two churches, Baptist and AME congregations sharing one facility. In 1914, the Baptist church built its own structure. The original Mt. Eden school building was moved to Waelder, and in 1966, moved back to the church site. Area population declined in the mid-1900s, but the legacy of the intrepid freedmen and women remains. (2023)