"Wells Fargo" and "Pioneer" On old map meanings?

Excorcist

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Was researching an old ghost town out in the boonies and found a cool old map of the area. On the map there are two areas I would like to know if people can identify... The first is where it says "wells fargo" my first thought is obviously the bank and I know they date back to this period. Do you guys think that was an actual wells fargo bank there or am I missing something? As you can see it was quite near the mine shafts themselves.

Also wondering if "pioneer" means anything to anyone?

Thanks in advance to anyone with some input!

Also sorry to edit this a few hours after posting but the time period of town is about 1860-1890 or so this map should be from the earlier portion of that, and is in north/ north-east nevada
 
The "Wells Fargo" is probably indicating the Wells Fargo shipping/receiving building indicated next to the road. "Pioneer" could be the name of a camp, a starting location of a new "City" but most likely indicates an existing cabin or homestead.

edit -- Looking at the map a bit closer, "Pioneer" is near a crossroads and may be a stage stop as well...

Have you tried using a place names search for the state this is in? There are "Place Name" books available for most states that give brief information about the various named places in the state. You can always do a Google search on "Pioneer name-of-state" to see what comes up.

Hope this helpful. I don't guarantee it's accuracy...
 
not a bank , in the sense we think of wells Fargo today . Back then that was indicating a like a postal shipping dock , & I suppose where money could be wired ? Or like a stage stop .
 
Couldn't locate any specific maker of the map and I have tried googling the states name (which is by the way nevada) along with all sorts of things relating to this map and not coming up with much.

Thank you VERY MUCH for the replies, It seems the word shipping has come up a couple times regarding "wells fargo" so I guess they did other things besides just being a bank where money is deposited and withdrawn, and I appreciate this insight. I thought it was kind of odd to just have a "bank" in a setting like this on the outskirts of the town.

Anymore information is welcomed and appreciated.

Im sure pioneer could mean a million things in this context.
 
There was a stage stop in my county, that was nothing more than a collection of a few buildings scattered around a cross-roads intersection. Like a saloon, hotel, etc.... And on the 3rd corner was the "wells fargo". But I always took that to mean nothing more than like a post-office shipping/receiving freight type thing. Not like a "bank".

Oh, and by the way, at this particular corner that had a WF that I speak of, we got several seateds, a large cent, shield nickel, and a $2.50 gold piece. So , that's worth checking into I suppose :)
 
The date of the map might really be important toward determining the activity that occurred at this location. Here is some info from the Well Fargo website (history) http://www.wellsfargohistory.com/faqs/ :


1852 ~
Wells Fargo & Co. founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo to provide banking and express services to Gold Rush California and the Pacific Coast.

1858 ~
Wells Fargo helps finance the nation’s first cross-country stagecoach line, the (Butterfield) Overland Mail Company, which carried mail and passengers from Missouri to California in 21 days.

1860 ~
The Pony Express shortens mail delivery between east and west to 10 days.

1863 ~
First National Bank of Philadelphia becomes the first national bank in the United States with Charter #1. (Later First Union, later Wachovia Bank.)

1866 ~
"Grand Consolidation": Wells Fargo acquires all major overland stagecoach firms in the West, connecting over 3,000 miles of western territory.

1869 ~
Transcontinental railroad and telegraph completed.

1872 ~
Northwestern National Bank (later Norwest) is founded in Minneapolis, by investors including William G. Fargo.

1875 ~
Wells Fargo drops comma from name (“Tale of the Comma”).

1879 ~
Wachovia National Bank opens in Winston, North Carolina.

1888 ~
Wells Fargo’s "Ocean to Ocean" express service moves commercial business across the country in four days.
Employee handbook states: “Proper respect must be shown to all—let them be men, women, children, rich or poor, white or black.”

1906 ~
San Francisco earthquake and fire. Wells Fargo provides horses and wagons to evacuate residents and deliver supplies.

1918 ~
Federal government takes over nation’s express business—including Wells Fargo—as a wartime measure. Wells Fargo Bank continues.

If I had to venture a guess, I say it was a stage stop acquired after 1866 and it no doubt would have been used to 'express' gold, mail, and other items to and from that site. As I said, just a guess. Since there are 'shafts', was the site in a big mining area (as shown on later topos) ?
 
Very cool info Tom, sounds like it may be a neat place to check out once things thaw out.

Thank you Mountain Digger for the timeline, interesting stuff and I still bank there today.

And Gold Audio that is a really cool site. Out of curiosity just how accurate is the Lat/long coordinates? I know you said they have been "spot on" for you... I just imagine it would be hard 100+years ago to nail down the exact coordinates of a single building. In your experience has it been within say an acre or within say 20 feet? Just trying to get a better idea of how to utilize this tool.

For example one building I got the Lat/Long from that site and it typed into google earth this is what it gives me:

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Do you think that pin is exactly where the building was or possibly that one of those other buildings could be it?
 
All schools, churches, and other places like cemeteries have been exact in my state and surrounding counties. These locations are usually only listed if they have been found in modern times. GPS has been around a long time for the government.

So... coordinates at that site have been exact for me. In recent months walked right to several old foundations from this list. Even things like springs ;)

However, on topo maps the overlay can be off in say google earth. BUT in my findings the squares are very close RELATIVE to the topo lines.

Be aware as I said, these are KNOWN historic places. Many more UNKNOWN.

In your example I would say its correct and would look at an old topo. A dot on both sides would confirm. Even topos put the dots on the correct side of a road or stream. In your case I doubt that road has ever moved ;)

Confirm also with the map tool on that site but should match google earth one would think.
 
Thank you again it is a cool site... unfortunately the oldest topo that "historic aerials" has for this area is the 80s and only shows those buildings on the left hand side of the road, still very possible that the building was long gone before the 80s.

Is there a better free online source for topo maps than historic aerials? These are something I don't usually use but can now see the potential benefits of them.

Again thanks for your help, it is much appreciated. Frozen ground around here so I have plenty of time to plan some trips for spring.
 
I'm looking at it marking something larger than a stop or a single place. I'm looking at it as marking the trail. Compare your map with the Wells Fargo stagecoach route and the pioneer trail heading to SF and Sacramento.
 
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