Because a man named G. W. Vineyard controlled a large portion of the land, the settlement was formerly known as Old Vineyard. According to legend, Vineyard found that the spring waters on his property healed the sores on his legs in the 1880s. The settlers called the burgeoning settlement Wizard Wells due to the purported miraculous healing.[2][3] Wizard Wells has long been a hub for the local farming community and a place to shop. Between 1920 and 1940, the town's population was approximately 175 people. The population of Wizard Wells began to gradually drop in the 1950s. The projected population of the village was 69 in 1986 and remained that way until 2000.[4]