Wells and Barkerville, British Columbia, only five miles apart, were gold mining bonanza towns during the Cariboo gold rush. (Barkerville, c. 1890 and Wells c. 1930) But the similarity between the two towns ends here, because the character and evolution of the two towns was diametrically different.

Barkerville grew fast and hard when gold was discovered in 1862 and adventurers poured in from around the globe to stake claims. Individuality characterized the town: small gold claims and lone prospectors seeking permits, private outfitters selling supplies to the prospectors, and entrepreneurs building the town almost overnight. People came to Barkerville to get rich quickly and leave. There was no such thing as a town plan, and Barkerville grew up in a mish-mash of prospector's cabins, saloons and outfitters stores, hotels, brothels and churches, all side by side in a happy gimcrack. The outlying areas, creeks and valleys, were soon scarred and conquered by the building paraphernalia that went with small-time gold-panning operations.

The town of Wells was Barkerville's less lively neighbour. Brash and rollicking Barkerville was the typical goldrush town, but Wells was built to be permanent; a company towns, and part of the second generation of resource extraction industry towns in the province. Company towns were typically designed and built by a big corporate interest wanting to develop natural resources on a large scale in a remote geographic area.(Iredale, Jennifer. Wells B.C., A Proposal for Heritage Conservation.) Usually it was a single natural resource which was exported raw, generally logging or mining in B.C., and the company town's livelihood was entirely divested and dependent on the single industry.

"B.C. Archives Photo Wells Townsite" I_27127

Wells was planned and built by the company to suit the company and the buildings were constructed in a hierarchy. This meant houses were built for the workers to live-in while they were employed at the gold mine. Single men lived in a bunkhouse, white collar workers had better homes with luxuries like bathrooms, and laborers with families had less fancy houses with outhouses.

Workers never really owned their own house and paid the company rent to live in the houses, but they tended to settle more permanently in the towns.The company built and owned a store where people bought food and supplies. Wells encouraged free enterprise and a few smaller, independent businesses such as the Wells Hotel and the Sunset Theatre were built.

The Cariboo Gold Quartz Mining Company constructed the Wells Community Hall and it was the last building they built there. The building was completed in 1938, and it was constructed as a gathering place and activity centre for the 5000 member community. Wells is geographically located in a treed wilderness setting with very little open space, and so a large open-area community hall was a very welcome addition to the community. After it was built the hall became a vibrant social place.

"B.C. Archives Photo Wells Townsite I_27132"

"The opening on January 4, '38 was a major community event with imported entertainment and inaugral dance; music by the local Wells orchestra. Since that day, all major social functions have occurred in the Community Hall and since its ample space and large maple dance floor continues to resound with the sound of many happy, dancing feet." (Iredale, Jennifer. Wells B.C., A Proposal for Heritage Conservation, p. 49)

The Strike of '37 shut down the mine for months, and took place in the middle of the construction of the Wells Community Hall. The strike in Wells is part of the history of labour unrest in the province that's characterized by rigid divisions between the workers and the status quo.