190 UNION COUNTY PAST AND PRESENT
1 Father P. J. McNeil, who had come to Waverly in 1909 as the
congregations first pastor, left the parish later in 1924.
Among the recent (1937) business establishments opened at
g Waverly is a hatchery. The incubators, which have a capacity of
10,000 eggs, are located on the Wheatly farm one mile from
Waverly. The machine-age has contributed only one new type
of business to the town—the ubiquitous service station, of which
there are four in Waverly.
The population of Waverly in 1910 as given by the U. S. Census,
was 311, and during the next decade it increased to 475·——the .
largest population in its history. During the next two decades
it decreased from this figure to 445 and then, in 1940, to 323.
Perhaps that decline is the "handwriting on the wall." Prac-
tically every crossroads has had its day. Many of them never `
developed beyond the general store, while others grew up and
boasted a flour and cornmill, a church, a graded county school,
and the stores in keeping with the community’s size and wealth. .
Waverly has all of these and also most of the modern con-
veniences. It is a crossroads that partly succeeded. The farm land
surrounding it is still good; then, too, Waverly remains a "good
place to live."