With abundant grass and good spring water, this was a good place to prepare for the hazardous 400-mile journey across the high desert to the west.

With completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, Humboldt-Wells became a station on the Central Pacific Railroad, sporting the station office in a boxcar, a water tower, Wells Fargo office, and a saloon. Officially renamed Wells in 1873, the railroad town of about 300 residents was an important shipping and receiving center for nearby mines and ranches.

For over a century, Wells has persisted. The town’s prosperity has repeatedly risen and fallen with the fortunes of the railroad, ranches and mines. Today, at the crossroads of Interstate 80 and U.S. 93, major east-west and north-south routes through Nevada, Wells still provides a resting place for commercial and recreational travelers on the move.