A Busy Frontier Office
From 1864 to 1889, Virginia City's Wells Fargo office was one of the busiest places in town, handling gold, mail, and passengers arriving and leaving by stagecoach.
Ben Holladay's Overland Stage Line reached Virginia City in August 1864, and his company's express office first used an old frame building that stood on this site.
In late 1866, Wells, Fargo & Company bought Holladay's stage and mail business and took over the office here, connecting Virginia City to towns across the West and to "the States" back east by stagecoach and express shipments.
Travelers coming into Virginia City usually stopped first at this office, while those leaving town said their farewells here, often surrounded by stacks of freight, express boxes, and trunks.
During the height of the gold rush, fortunes in gold dust and bars crossed the office counter on their way to banks and refineries, and the building also housed the telegraph office, allowing messages to reach distant places in minutes instead of weeks.
From Express Office to Buford Block
In 1899, Wells Fargo apparently moved its local office into another nearby building-the small one that later became the Wells Fargo museum-style display along Wallace Street-just a short distance from the original location.
That same year, merchant S. R. Buford, who already owned brick stores dating from 1866 and 1875 on either side of the old frame Wells Fargo building, purchased the lot where the original express office stood.
Buford tore down the old wooden Wells Fargo structure and roofed over the open space between his two brick sections to create a larger grocery and merchandise department.
The expanded building became known as the Buford Block and, for about the next twenty-five years, served as a major center of trade in this part of Montana, supplying mining camps and ranches with food, tools, clothing, and hardware.
S. R. Buford died in 1905, but his sons Charles, Walter, and Luther kept the store business running until 1926.
Mortuary Days and an Empty Block
In 1932, undertaker Kenneth Baker opened a mortuary in the center section of the Buford Block.
The store shelving, counters, and even a hand-operated freight elevator from the grocery department were removed and stored in a large tin shed across the alley, where Buford had once kept farm equipment and machinery.
These original fixtures were still in storage in the shed when Charles and Sue Bovey discovered them many years later, giving them authentic pieces to reuse in their restorations.
In 1935, Charles Raper purchased the mortuary business and moved it up the street into Creighton's Stone Block in 1940, leaving the central part of the Buford Block vacant.
From 1940 until 1947 the Buford Block stood largely empty and unused, a quiet reminder of the town's busier past.
The Wells Fargo Coffee House
In 1947, preservationist Charles A. Bovey bought the Buford Block from the Elling family estates as part of his larger effort to restore Virginia City and nearby Nevada City.
That same year, the Boveys opened the Wells Fargo Coffee House in the center section of the block, choosing the name to honor the earlier Wells Fargo express office that had once stood on this site.
When they converted the Buford Block into a coffeehouse, the side sections of the building were left almost unchanged on the outside, helping preserve the Victorian-era streetscape.
The center, however, was remodeled to look more like the 1860s express office: the large plate-glass display windows and recessed bay-door entry that had been added around 1900 were removed and replaced with small-paned windows based on old photographs of the original Wells Fargo building.
A wooden porch was added across the front, and a replica Wells Fargo sign was painted on wood siding over the brick façade to complete the historic appearance.
Inside the Building
Inside, the Boveys kept many historic features.
The balcony at the rear of the central room remained and was turned into an apartment for the cook who worked in the coffeehouse.
A partition wall was added and modern kitchen equipment installed so food and drinks could be prepared safely, but much of the interior stayed the same.
Most notably, the original pressed-tin ceiling-a detailed metal pattern popular in late-nineteenth-century buildings-was preserved and is still visible today as an example of period craftsmanship and decorative art.
Why This Place Matters
For students, the Wells Fargo site and Buford Block show how one location in Virginia City passed through many phases: from stagecoach express and telegraph center, to a large general store, to a mortuary, and finally to a historic-themed coffeehouse in a preserved ghost town.
The story also connects local history to bigger themes, such as the Overland Trail stage system, the growth of nationwide companies like Wells Fargo, and modern efforts to protect and reuse important old buildings instead of tearing them down.
Credits
Special acknowledgements go to historians and preservationists whose research and restoration work have helped keep the story of Wells Fargo, the Buford Block, and Virginia City alive for new generations.