Waverly, noted for fine apples and rich farmlands, was settled in 1818 and chartered in 1850 with William Smith Thomas as mayor. In 1804 the Lewis and Clark Expedition made oars near Port of Waverly, which served Missouri River steamboats and now barge lines for grain. "Jo" Shelby, grandson of a Revolutionary War soldier, lived here and operated a hemp walk from 1852 to 1861, when in the Methodist Episcopal Church South he raised his first command, the Confederate Cavalry, that crossed the Rio Grande rather than surrender.