Wells is nestled in a valley surrounded by the Cariboo Mountains. The mountains in the area are riddled with gold, making it possible for two separate mining companies to set up shop in the region, Island Mountain Mine and the Cariboo Gold Quartz Mine.

Fred Wells was an energetic gold prospector who found a rich deposit in the Cariboo just before the value of gold was raised to encourage the mining industry during the Great Depression. He founded, with the help of Dr. Burnett and Mr. Solibakke his investors, the Cariboo Gold Quartz Mining Company. The town of Wells, named after the famed prospector who brought industry, began as a company town in the 1930s to house the influx of miners to the region.

The Wells Townsite Company Limited encouraged privately owned businesses in a time when a company town was entirely owned and operated by the company which spawned it. Because of this, people who had nothing to do with the gold mine rushed to the area to provide services for the miners. Many miners also became business owners!

The price of gold stagnated after World War Two, but Wells did not! Because of the independence the Wells Townsite Company Limited engendered, Wells kept moving forward. Many company towns emptied out when the industry ended but, the people of Wells stayed energetic and busy.

Wells was pumped full of new residents in the 1970s and 80s. Hippies coming for a new lease on life in the wilderness, seeing an opportunity to build something new and exciting.

Today, the gold in Wells is being mined again but, the people here are as interested in the history of mining as the modern reality. The Wells Historical Society is dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of Wells, British Columbia.