Wells, Fargo & Company, as it was known then and is now, came to Golden along at the close of 1866. The company had just completed a great consolidation with three of the other top transportation firms in the west, and now sought to expand its service to Colorado Territory. In Denver at 15th and Blake Streets they built a great staging operation with 525 horses and 44 Concord stagecoaches. Immediately Wells Fargo saw potential in setting up operations in Golden City, the only town between Denver and the mountain gold mining towns it wanted to serve.
At Golden City Wells Fargo purchased two lots at the southeast corner of Washington Avenue and 3rd Street, as 13th was then known. Wells Fargo was born in Golden City at the same time its permanent newspaper: the Colorado Transcript. Here is what the paper had to say about the other new arrival in town in its first edition, December 19, 1866:
A FINE BUILDING. - The Wells & Fargo Express Co. are erecting a very fine stone building for a stable, on Third street, near the corner of Washington Avenue. It is to be 28 x 50 feet, and a story and a half high - built of the native granite found near here. As soon as this is completed, the company designs erecting a fine station adjoining, of the same material. The permanency of the improvements of the Express company here shows which way the wind blows.
Wells Fargo's first two Golden
buildings at center of photo - stone and frame stables complex
1868 - the only known photo of Wells Fargo's buildings
while operated by the company
Courtesy Golden Historical Collection, Richard
A. Ronzio photographs
Indeed these improvements commanded permanency to the town; no stone building had ever been built in Golden before. The stable was fitted for 21 horses, and possessed an office, granary, hayloft and other needed amenities. Its purpose was to provide the stage line with horses as well as a house to do business. Coming from Denver or the mountains the animals would be worn out and Wells Fargo teamsters could come here and switch to a fresh team of horses to continue their journey without losing time. In addition, the company used this facility to transact business in Golden, to pick up or deliver shipments, passengers, and more. Wells Fargo officially opened for business in Golden on Monday, February 25, 1867.
Wells Fargo's building was hailed by the Transcript as "one of the most substantial and commodious stage stables in the country," and business was brisk. The company also planned to build a fine hotel at the site, to be made of stone and brick, 2 stories tall with a 50-foot front. The 1st floor was to contain company offices, dining room, kitchens and more, and the 2nd floor would contain 40 rooms. The hotel to be 1st-class in every respect. However, this hotel never materialized. The Transcript had stated "the hotel will be commenced as soon as (the stable) is done, or as soon as the brick can be made." Noted brick shortages in Golden in 1867 may have been the reason Wells Fargo never built its hotel. As it was, the plans for a hotel may explain why their stable was not placed on the corner, but in the rear of the property, fronting on what is now 13th Street at Prospectors Alley. With need to expand service coming in 1868, a new wooden stable with a false front was built facing Washington Avenue. It stood exactly where the historic Williams Garage building at 1305 Washington Avenue is now, and the stable was capable of housing 20 more horses.