Nevada State Historic Preservation Office

Location:
Humboldt River Basin, Elko County, Nevada.
Located along Interstate Highway 80 at the Union Pacific Railroad overpass in Wells, Nevada.

HUMBOLDT WELLS
These springs, seen as marsh spots and small ponds of water in the meadows here, are the Humboldt Wells, a historic oasis on the California Emigrant Trail. Here, during the period 1845-1870, hundreds of covered wagons each year rested and refitted from their arduous journeys up Raft River, past the City of Rocks, across the Goose Creek Range and down Thousand Springs Valley, and prepared for the grueling 300-mile trek along the Humboldt Valley. Ruts of the old emigrant trail winding down to the springs may yet be seen on the slopes above them and to the northwest.

The City of Wells, first established as the water stop of Humboldt Wells on the Central Pacific Railroad in September, 1869, is named for these springs. Its name was shortened to Wells in 1873.