Wells Fargo in Chicago

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In 1852, Henry Wells and William G. Fargo founded Wells, Fargo & Co. to provide banking and express service to western pioneers. Wells Fargo opened its first offices in New York and San Francisco, and soon expanded into western mining camps and settlements. The company provided essential banking services, reliable transportation of gold and goods, and dependable mail delivery to miners, merchants, and farmers. Wells Fargo’s agents purchased gold dust, took deposits, and offered bank drafts and checks to facilitate safe transport of Wells Fargo decorated its office at 32 North Dearborn Street for Chicago’s “Market Week and Fashion money over long distances. Show” in August 1915. Wells Fargo’s convenient bills of exchange were payable in over By 1871, Wells Fargo had 400 offices across the nation and in major fifty cities, including Chicago. cities around the world. In Chicago, the Midwest’s transportation and Wells Fargo handled customers’ manufacturing hub, Wells Fargo’s special correspondent O.W. Barrett represented the company at the corner of Lake and Dearborn Streets in 1871. business by the fastest When the Great Chicago Fire hit that year, Wells Fargo contributed money to means available: stagecoach, relief efforts. steamship, railroad, or pony express. From 1866 to 1869 In 1888, Wells Fargo became the first nationwide express company, with 2,500 offices connected by rail from “Ocean to Ocean.” In anticipation of Wells Fargo stagecoaches increased Midwestern business, Wells Fargo opened a new express agency carried mail, express, and on Washington Street in the Windy City on December 1, 1887. Agent Anson treasure shipments across the Gorton relocated to 154-156 Dearborn Street in 1888 and five years later West. After completion of the proudly hosted Wells Fargo’s first historical exhibit at the World’s transcontinental railroad, Columbian Exposition. trains gradually replaced the stagecoach. Efficient handling of express business — sending money, goods, and valuables reliably, quickly, and safely — was a hallmark of Wells Fargo. Chicago businesses served by Wells Fargo included the Mead Cycle Company and a local automobile dealership, which received new 1914 models shipped in custom Wells Fargo railcars. A smaller, but unique Chicago delivery occurred in 1902, when Wells Fargo carefully delivered a live gila monster to the zoo in Lincoln Park.

Wells Fargo also helped Chicago mail order merchants Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward revolutionize retail shopping. Wells Fargo established exclusive agencies at the retailers’ Chicago plants, handling tens of thousands of packages. Many of the 70,000 orders received daily included pre-payment using Wells Fargo express money orders. Wells Fargo also offered foreign remittance service, helping Chicago’s immigrant community send funds overseas.

A special edition of the company magazine highlighted Wells Fargo’s business in Chicago.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Wells Fargo Bank returned to Chicago with corporate banking, leasing, international banking, and real estate investment services. In 1998, Wells Fargo hired its first commercial banker in Chicago. By 2001, the Commercial Banking business Wells Fargo’s famous stagecoach visited Chicago in 1912. Wells Fargo team in Chicago had grown substantially, along with members enjoyed a ride in Lincoln Park. other Wells Fargo business lines, and the company’s total employment in the city increased to 134 team By 1910, Wells Fargo served more than 200 communities members. By 2007, the Chicago Commercial Banking in Illinois. Rail connections made Chicago a key hub business had grown to become Wells Fargo’s biggest of Wells Fargo’s nationwide business. To serve local in the country, with three Chicago offices serving customers, Wells Fargo maintained branch offices West, Central, and North markets of the city. covering the downtown Loop, stockyards, and adjacent neighborhoods. By 1913, Wells Fargo employed nearly Today, more than 800 Wells Fargo team members 2,500 people in Chicago, where the company had in Chicago are based at a leading-edge regional centralized its corporate auditing and accounting headquarters in the iconic Chicago Mercantile departments. There, dozens of women operated Hollerith Exchange Center, where forty Wells Fargo lines automatic tabulating machines, a forerunner of the of business — including Commercial Banking, computer. In 1918, the Federal Government took over the International Banking and Trade Solutions, country’s express operations as a wartime measure, and U.S. Corporate Banking, and Wealth Brokerage and Wells Fargo signs disappeared in Chicago and across Retirement — collaborate with Chicago customers America. Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank continued and the Chicago community to earn their trust and in the banking business in San Francisco. help them succeed financially.