Available for use in the Manuscripts Division reading room. Advance notice is requested.
There are no restrictions on the use of materials in this collection. Copies can be requested if the condition of the originals warrants it.
Wesley G. Wells papers (N 47), Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.
The collection was donated to the Northwest Architectural Archives on June 4, 1977.
Wesley G. Wells was born in 1901 and educated in Minnesota. He spent most of his working life in the state. He received training both in architecture and engineering and worked at a number of jobs in these fields. From 1926 to 1934 he operated his own practice designing state armories, dormitories, private residences, apartment houses, store buildings, service stations and breweries. Although the chronology is not clear, he spent time in the 1930s and 1940s in the employ of the U.S. Government as a topographical surveyor and engineer in the Control Section and Operations of the War Department, the State of Minnesota Military Department, the St. Paul Public Works Department, the National Parks Service, the Public Works Administration and the College of St. Thomas (St. Paul). In the latter several positions, he worked as an architect/draftsman.
The collection consists of photographs, some correspondence relating to his employment with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (1943-1944) and with a few clients and contractors, specifications and drawings. Among the projects for which there are drawings and specifications are the Schultz & Hilders Brewery, (Jordan, Minnesota, 1933-1936); Frontier Brewing Company, (St. Paul, n.d.); Joseph Wolf Brewery, (Stillwater, Minnesota, 1919-1934); the Hippodrome (1947) and Agriculture-Horticulture Building (1945) at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, both designed by architect Kindy Wright; and the Gymnasium Building, State School for the Deaf, (Faribault, Minnesota, 1930), designed by Charles Hausler of St. Paul.
An unpublished finding aid with detailed contents is available in the Manuscripts Division.
Charles Hausler papers (N 6)
A. Moorman and Company collection (N 56)
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.