This well set into the hillside was first constructed during the Victorian period in the late 1800s. It was named after Jamie Wright, a local printer who worked at the Lennoxtown Calico Printing Works.

Wright was a keen fisherman and during one fishing trip, he discovered a natural spring of fresh water making its way down the hillside. He constructed a well at the spring to aide those who were venturing through Campsie Fells.

The well has been modified and altered over the years. In the 1870s, a team of local tradesmen led by Robert Gilchrist added a cistern and ladle to the well. The well became known to a wider audience when local poet James Slimmon wrote a commemorative poem entitled The Packman's Salutation to the Mountain Well, bringing the knowledge of Wright and his watering hole to the masses.

In 1899, the well was developed further when friends of Slimmon raised money to improve the foundations and constructed a memorial. This additional memorial, composed of Queenziemill stone and Peterhead granite, was unveiled in 1900.