The founder of this city along the the Cedar River probably could not have imagined there would be a Wartburg College here. This school started around 1852 in Saginaw, Michigan with a Lutheran pastor from Bavaria and five students as a teacher-training school for German immigrants. It found a permanent home in Waverly around 1935. Since then the city and the college have established a special relationship leading to the erection of the Wartburg-Waverly Sports & Wellness Center and the cultural opportunities open to this community with a liberal arts college. The demise of the Cedar Valley railroad eventually led to the construction of the 10 foot wide asphalt Waverly Rail Trail which leads to the the Denver- Jefferson Trail into Denver and the Readlyn-Grump Trail into Readlyn.