The Wells post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Farmer's Valley (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 562149 years
Founding year: the first Wells post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Wells’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wells. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1916Tomah sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Wells.
The story so far
Wells, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Wells yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Wells is a town in Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 562 at the time of the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Farmers Valley is located partially in the town. The town was named for James Wells, a prominent early settler and the first town chair.
Its first post office opened in 1877. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 519 to 562 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Wells in 1912
Passages that mention Wells, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Monroe County Wisconsin1912 · page 776Read the page →
Read the text
He first located in Angelo township, near Sparta, where he remained one year, then went to Minnesota. After a short time he returned to Monroe county and located in Leon township, remaining there two years, and then moved to the town of Wells and spent two more years, and again returned to Leon and spent two years; thence to the town of Angelo, locating on his present farm, eighty acres of which lies in section thirty-four, Angelo, and 157 acres in section three, Wells township, in 1901. In 1905
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Monroe County Wisconsin1912 · page 558Read the page →
Read the text
The town of Wells was set off in the fall of 1871 and the first town meeting held at the home of O. L. Arnold on the second day of April, 1872. The officers chosen at this meeting were James Wells, ehairman; John Seymour and George Kind, supervisors; J. L. Woleott, clerk; O. L. Arnold, assessor, and James Ingles,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Wells, 1858 to 1916
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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