Early History

Wells Fargo’s bittersweet sacrifice of WWI

Why Wells Fargo & Co. closed more than 10,000 express offices around the country over 100 years ago.
A loaded Wells Fargo wagon pulled by two horses. Three men stand in front of the wagon, one man stands on the rear bumper and three men are seated in the driver’s seat. Image in black and white.
Featured photo caption: A Wells Fargo wagon in St. Louis, where Ollie Ziegler was a wagon driver. Photo Credit: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

On June 30, 1918, staff at Wells Fargo & Co.’s express office at 60 E. 8th St. in New York City gathered outside on the sidewalk to take a nostalgic photograph. It was the last day any of them would work for Wells Fargo. At midnight, the federal government’s wartime merger of the major domestic express businesses would be complete.

When the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, it thrust itself into the War to End All Wars, a global conflict the world had never seen. The stakes of World War I were high, and it became very clear that the United States had a pressing problem to solve: getting much needed supplies and equipment to the soldiers who so urgently needed it.

People gather on a New York City street in front of a Wells Fargo office building in 1918. A sign on the building reads: Wells Fargo & Co. Black and white image. Image link will enlarge image.
Staff from Wells Fargo & Co.’s express office in New York pose one last time under the company sign on June 30, 1918. Photo Credit: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

Supporting the war effort

A colorful crate label with an illustrated Wells Fargo diamond sign. Label reads: Fargo Tomatoes Grown in Mexico. Image link will enlarge image.
Wells Fargo continued moving agricultural produce across international borders, as shown on this label for a crate of tomatoes from Mexico. Photo Credit: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

At the time, Wells Fargo had become a household name for service and dependability. Its express business moved packages, merchandise, and valuables that needed to travel quickly, safely, and with special handling. Although ending its express services was necessary to serve the greater needs of the country, it was also an emotional change for the thousands of men and women who worked for Wells Fargo.

Five women wearing long skirts and white blouses stand outside of a building doorway. The middle woman holds a Wells Fargo & Co. diamond sign. Image link will enlarge image.
Wells Fargo employed more than 35,000 women and men in its express business in 1918. Photo Credit: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

In a book of memoirs, wagon driver Ollie Ziegler reflected back on his long career as a teamster in St. Louis and nostalgically remembered his time in Wells Fargo’s express service. He wrote, “My experiences have been many and varied. But today, as all this passes before me again, there is one period that I think of more than any other — that of my employment with the old Express Company. The men and boys I knew and worked with, the equipment, and many of the happenings are still green in my memory. And deep inside, always when it comes to mind, are the pangs of nostalgia for something that has passed and will never be again.”

A group of men gather for an employee photo in 1918. Behind them is a row of Wells Fargo wagons. Image link will enlarge image.
Some of Wells Fargo’s 35,000 express business employees in 1918. Photo Credit: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

On July 1, 1918, Wells Fargo turned over all its equipment and property used in its nationwide express business to American Railway Express, including thousands of wagons and motor trucks, horses, 175 refrigerated railcars, buildings, furnishings, and leases. American Railway Express attempted to quickly adopt a new identity, painting its fleet of wagons and motor trucks a drab battleship gray.

Wells Fargo truck parked outside of building with sign: Wells Fargo and Co of Cuba. Historic black and white photograph. Image link will enlarge image.
After exiting the domestic express business in 1918, Wells Fargo & Co. continued offshore express and travel operations in Mexico and Cuba for several more decades. Photo Credit: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

Many of Wells Fargo’s 35,000 express employees continued in the business as part of the American Railway Express workforce of 125,000. The experience in delivering packages quickly and reliably was essential during the war. Burns Caldwell, Wells Fargo & Co.’s president, chaired the board of the new American Railway Express company.

Wells Fargo’s express era

Outline map of United States from 1852, highlighting that Wells Fargo & Co Express business operating in New York State, California and Oregon Territory. Image link will enlarge image.
When Wells Fargo was established in 1852, it operated in California, the Oregon Territory, and New York.
Outline map of United States from 1870, highlighting that Wells Fargo & Co Express business has added operation in the states of Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon. Also added are the Washington, Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona Territories, as well as the Hawaiian Islands. Image link will enlarge image.
By 1870, Wells Fargo’s presence more than doubled, having expanded to 11 states and territories, including the Hawaiian Islands.
Outline map of United States from 1888, highlighting that Wells Fargo & Co Express business has added operation in the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado. Also added are the Oklahoma, Dakota, Wyoming, and New Mexico Territories. Image link will enlarge image.
Eighteen years later, Wells Fargo’s presence covered more than half of the United States.
Outline map of United States from June 1918, highlighting that Wells Fargo & Co Express business operating across the map with only a few New England and South Eastern States excluded. Image link will enlarge image.
By June 1918, Wells Fargo’s presence stretched from ocean to ocean.
Outline map of United States from July 1918, highlighting that Wells Fargo & Co Express had ceased business operations at all locations except San Francisco. Image link will enlarge image.
Wells Fargo express operations around the country ended abruptly after the federal government’s wartime merger of major domestic express businesses. Its banking business continued in San Francisco.

After the war

Still in the banking business

Even as a chapter closed on Wells Fargo’s history in the transportation business in 1918, the Wells Fargo name continued in banking as it had since 1852.

Wells Fargo & Co. had separated its banking and express businesses in 1905, when company president and railroad mogul Edward H. Harriman moved the headquarters of the express business to New York and sold off its San Francisco banking business to The Nevada Bank, under the leadership of California banker I.W. Hellman.

As the predecessor of today’s Wells Fargo Bank, it grew into a leading commercial bank on the Pacific Coast, and in recent decades the Wells Fargo name is once again known in financial services from coast to coast and around the world.

Following the Allied victory in World War I, pressure for a nationally coordinated shipping infrastructure eased, and the nation’s railroads returned to private ownership in 1920. Although there had been speculation that the wartime consolidation would later result in postwar re-privatization of express companies, Washington bureaucrats soon realized the nationwide express industry was a complex network that proved hard to untangle once combined. Whereas railroads had clearly identifiable assets like tracks, bridges, and routes, the express service was primarily an industry operating on existing railroad infrastructure.

And so, the American Railway Express continued on as a part of the daily commercial life of thousands of cities and towns. American Railway Express changed its name to Railway Express Agency in 1929 and remained in business until the mid-1970s, when the declining fortunes of railroads and rise of interstate highways and semi-trucks put it out of business for good.

Museum visitors interact with displays in 1936. The floor is tiled in black and white in the foreground while a stagecoach is displayed in the background. Image link will enlarge image.
Wells Fargo did more than remember the past. The bank realized that it was the continuation of a legacy of service, trust, and pioneering spirit and created a public museum, shown here in 1936. Photo Credit: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

Over its long history, Wells Fargo has seen many changes. But few changes altered the business so fast or so thoroughly as the end of the express era at the stroke of midnight on June 30, 1918.

A yellow advertisement for Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank featuring pencil sketches of several San Francisco buildings. The Wells Fargo diamond sign symbol is in upper left corner. Image link will enlarge image.
Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank carried on the Wells Fargo name in banking, and even adopted the diamond sign symbol of the old express company. Photo Credit: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives

Marianne Babal

Marianne Babal is a Corporate Historian for Wells Fargo.

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