Exxon / 11378 Highway 21 East
On the edge of the county near the Brazos River is this Exxon, built in 2020 with the official name of "Fast Trac 21 & Truck Stop". Despite the venerable all-caps Exxon logo being functionally phased out for new and remodeled stores, this store did add it as a road sign new. However, the canopy uses the newer logo.
Royalty Pecan Farms / 10600 State Highway 21 East
One of the things seen heading out of town (the warehouse has the best visibility from the west) is Royalty Pecan Farms. The address apparently used to be 10740 State Highway 21 and was established in 1993. Later on (around 2009) they established a retail store and started doing tours and weddings.
Exxon / 7025 Texas 21 East
Besides the road narrowing (no median, though the construction of the new gas station did add a turn lane) and speed limit dropping with a bit of shade on the road, there's only one commercial business in Cooks Point, an Exxon (as well as a church or two).
Originally, this was an Exxon with Cooks Point Store. I'm not sure what the full history of the gas station is, but the last significant improvement to the property was 1997 (the canopy). Here is what the gas station looked like as of 1992 with the older canopy.
In March or April 2022, the gas station was demolished for the continued construction of a long-promised replacement gas station. While still an Exxon (with the updated logo), the new convenience store is Aurora, based out of Bryan. It opened sometime around fall 2022, and appears to have a fried chicken option (Cooper's Express) as well.
Brazos Valley RV Park / 2190 Highway East
This RV park began pouring concrete in fall 2014 and was operational by spring of the following year.
Westyn's Ace Hardware / 1939 Highway 21 East
This opened in May 2026 and faces FM 2000.
Woodson Lumber Company / 965 Highway 21 East
This is the corporate office for Woodson Lumber & Hardware, a chain of seven small hardware stores around Texas. They have an actual retail location elsewhere in Caldwell. They have been here since 1999, though the building is from the mid-1990s.
Shell / 910 Texas State Highway 21 East
Hornet's Nest Grocery and Hornet's Nest Wash House anchor this long-standing gas station. This has been here since the 1980s and has had the name and address since around 1994. It had been a Mobil for at least since the late 1990s, but between August 2023 and December 2025 became a Shell.
Tractor Supply Company / 805 State Highway 21 East
Tractor Supply Company opened a new store outside of Caldwell in spring 2007. While it always had an outdoor sales area, a garden center (with enclosures) was built in the late 2010s.
Caldwell Country Chevrolet / 800 State Highway 21 East
When this opened in 2003 this was also a Pontiac dealer, though parent company discontinued the brand in 2010.
7-Eleven / 564 State Highway 21 East
This new-build 7-Eleven has self-branded gasoline and a Laredo Taco Company inside of it. It opened in January 2023.
Surrey Inn & Restaurant / 403 Highway 21 East
The Surrey Inn has been around as long as I can remember, and indeed—Burleson CAD indicates it was built back in 1965. It has a detached restaurant that based on some filings I've seen changes menus and formats every so often are brief closures, though it still seems to draw a consistent following and always has chicken fried steak on the menu. (The current restaurant currently does business as "Four Tines Restaurant", though the Surrey Inn Restaurant signage still hangs).
Chevron / 205 State Highway 21 West
The convenience store here is "Cat's Pitt Stop" and has been operating under this name since 1991. The Chevron name has been here since at least 2007.
Buzzin Vape Smoke Shop / 203 E. Highway 21
Buzzin Vape opened in fall of 2022. From the late 1980s until around the end of 2016, this site (203 Texas 21) was Kolache Capital Bake Shop (having previously been the home of a convenience store), located a town that advertises itself as the "Kolache Capital of Texas" (even an annual festival), but it moved to downtown Bryan, about 25 miles away. From September 2017 to around 2022, it was Sunny Donuts.
Sunoco / 100 East State Highway 21
This Shell/Zip'N had been here for years (back to around 1987) and between August 2023 and December 2025 became a Sunoco, much like the other remaining Zip'N stores in Bryan.
Caldwell Civic Center / 103 W. State Highway 21
This public auditorium was built between 1996 and 2003.
ONE Church Caldwell / 104 West State Highway 21
This church is located in a building that from the late 1970s to around 2008, it was J&H Food Market, which included a meat counter. In the 2010s it was converted to a church called "Area 3:16", and by 2018 completed an expansion. By 2021 it was "The Well Community Church", which merged into "ONE Church", which relocated The Well's space.
Taco Bell / 200 W. State Highway 21
This Taco Bell opened in 2025. It replaced an equipment rental lot (which was briefly a used car lot—Caldwell Country Fun Center, which was a rebranding of Periko Auto Sales, same with a small location in Bryan).
Caldwell Smoke & Vape Shop / 203 Texas State Highway 21
This used to be LT Nails until the late 2010s (moved to the building to the west), with this store opening in the early 2020s (or very very late 2010s).
300-302 State Highway 21 West
The tenant on the left is listed as 302 State Highway 21, but according to Google, Renew Your Temple Massage & Therapy is "temporarily closed" (which usually turns out to be permanent). The middle tenant is Texas Seafood & Steak House (since 2016, though it looks older than it actually is). From about 2008 to 2015 this was "China Pan Buffet". Daisy Dukes BBQ has been there since 2015 and was the former site of Champion Pools. Both Daisy Dukes and Texas Seafood & Steak House have the 300 address.
J.C. Brewer's Service Center / 301 W. State Highway 21
This was an Exxon since the late 1970s and into the late 2000s (even though by that time the canopy was out of Exxon's current design standards).
Dollar Tree / 400 West State Highway 21
This opened as a Family Dollar (#09042) in spring 2012 but sometime in 2018 or 2019 it was converted to a Dollar Tree.
Dollar General / 403 West Highway 21
Dollar General has been in Caldwell since the early 1990s but moved here in 1995. It doesn't look like it anymore since the new logo was installed, but it had, prior to this, the 1984 logo, which had "Dollar" on the left and "General Stores" on the right side. Most of the other stores I was familiar with used the 1995 or 2009 logo. You can see it on the older Street View here.
La Perla Tapatia Meat Market / 500 Highway 21 West
This oft-empty building was Burleson County True Value Farm & Home Supply in the late 1980s and early 1990s (I'm not sure what it has served as since or before).
In the mid-to-late 2010s it was used a daycare (Learning Station), which then became "Blessings from Above Daycare #2"; the "original" was (at the time) near the corner of Holleman and Anderson in College Station. At the time they had labeled the business as 600 W. State Highway 21 but it's actually in the 500 block. La Perla Tapatia Meat Market opened in 2023 and redid the parking lot as part of its construction.
Groce Service Station / 507 Highway 21 West
I believe these may have been a Texaco prior to 2003 but for a decade following was a Shell, featuring a garage instead of a convenience store (it also had a car wash). In 2012, a new canopy (not in Shell colors), a truck/diesel canopy was built in front of the car wash. In spring 2017, it became "Rockin' G Service Center" (associated with the main gas station up the road) but by 2019 changed names again.
Edward Jones / 701 Highway 21 West
This financial advisor office is led by Sarah M. Horne, according to Edward Jones' website. The office was built around 2015-2016.
NAPA Auto & Truck Parts / 703 State Highway 21 West
NAPA built new here circa 2008.
Americas Best Value Inn / 1108 Highway 21 West
Just a block or two past the railroad tracks (and those weird sculptures seen on the right just as you descend) there's Americas Best Value Inn Caldwell. It wasn't always a hotel; in 1976, Leisure Lodge Nursing Home opened in Caldwell at 701 North Broadway Street. In the late 1990s, it switched to Caldwell Health and Rehabilitation Center and shut down in 1999. After sitting vacant for a decade, it sat vacant for over a decade until it opened sometime around early 2011 (best I can tell, possibly opened in late 2010) when it was renovated and reopened as a hotel.
Uncle Brother's Gumbo & Que / 1301 State Highway 21 West
This has been a variety of businesses over the years. In 2011 it was A to Z Insurance, and in most of the 2010s it was Vintage Resale. By 2021 it was The Garden Spot Cafe restaurant, which disappeared a few years later. As of 2026 (I believe it opened this year) it assumed its current tenant. (Pretty sure "Que" is short for "barbecue" here, and not Spanish).
1500 Highway 21 West
Half of this building is vacant, having formerly been Bulls Eye BBQ from approximately 2003 to 2011. The other half is Country Blossoms, which replaced Daniella's Treats & Gifts around 2006 (roughly).
1504 State Highway 21
This empty lot was last home to Stop N Save Food Mart #2. It closed between 2013 and 2015, almost immediately after Rockin G Oil Company across the street opened, and was torn down not long after.
Lo Nuestro De Mexico / 1512 Highway 21 West
This Mexican restaurant moved here in 2018 (new built location) from 515 North Main Street, where it had been since 2006, though it appears it had a brief stay at the northwest corner of Banks Street and Highway 21 prior to this.
Rockin' G Oil Company / 1515 W. State Highway 21
This large gas station and convenience opened in August 2015. It features "Papa G's" hamburger stand and "Nonnie's Bakery" which is open in the morning. (If you missed the morning hours, there's usually leftovers sold in the convenience store).
Pecan Grove / 1806 Highway 21 West
One of Caldwell's few "apartment complexes", these two multi-unit buildings were built in 2010.
1819 Highway 21 West
While the old but respectable-looking Surrey Inn anchors the east side of town, the west side of town had the far less inviting Caldwell Motel.
Despite being (at last count) only $35 a night (or so the sign claimed), the reviews were better than you'd tend to expect for a motel of that price (well, for those guests that didn't discover bedbugs, at least). In February 2022, the entire motel completely burned down except for a building which I assume was a restaurant of some sort at one time. Perhaps this will be the core of a new motel that is erected in its place, but that was a few years ago now.
Pico Propane and Fuels / 2080 W. State Highway 21
In 2015, the building included Celebration Church and J&J Tire Service, by 2016 it was Celebration Church exclusively, and in 2017 it was Flipz Cheer & Tumble, a cheerleading/gymnastics facility for girls 3-18.
Pico has done more than just occupy it, there's a large fenced-off propane tank near the parking area now.
Howdy Kan LLC / 4256 State Hwy. 21 W.
Howdy Disposal's name isn't on the building or signage, just their logo and phone number. This was the Caldwell office of Halliburton-owned Multi-Chem O&G-related company but in the late 2010s became Basic Energy Services, a company based out of Midland. Howdy Kan (aka "Howdy Disposal" or "Howdy Enterprises") has been here since at least December 2021.
Shell / 4360 West TX-21
The last gas station before you enter Caldwell, this is currently known as "Caldwell Truck & Food Stop" (it was "Big's" convenience store from the early 2000s until sometime around 2016, the name change brought a Krispy Krunchy fried chicken program), and has been here since at least the late 1980s, though not necessarily under those names (it has been a Shell since at least 2003, and likely a Texaco before that) or size (the gas canopy has been enlarged with a second truck-oriented one built later, these improvements came in line between 1998 and 2002).
This started as "Countryside Grocery & Pub" (I found and commented it on Vintage Aerial) in 1984, the name changed in 2005. I think the Texaco name might've come in during the late 1990s/early 2000s improvements.
Texaco / 7558 State Highway 21
This Texaco ("Highway 21 Food Mart", though the sign says "Hwy 21 Food Mart") dates back to around 2010, give or take a year. It isn't very old but looks like it hasn't aged particularly well. There's signage for Krispy Krunchy and Hunt Bros. Pizza inside.
Dollar General / 7850 Highway 21
This Dollar General opened in early 2022 at FM 60 (not exactly the same FM 60 as in College Station and points east, though this one does make its way back to Lyons and Highway 36. Around the time of Dollar General's opening, the intersection was reconfigured to forbid most left turns.
The Hitching Post / 10250 Highway 21 East
This bar has been here since at least 1994. Records indicate it may have been "Silver Spur" in the 1980s. Just west of here is an old boxcar advertising "Hay for Sale" (practically a landmark now). Both can be seen on this photography website.
Caldwell Nursery Landscaping / 11421 Highway 21
The last address on Highway 21 before Lee County is this plant nursery open to the open to the public. I'm not sure how the business has been open but Street View suggests the mid-2010s.