 The community reached a population of 2,350 in 1924 as a coal-mining town with over 10,000 people living in the general area, but had declined to about 400 by 1957, and an estimated population of 249 in 2013.Wilder was a planned company town, intended to provide housing for employees of the Fentress Coal and Coke Company.Town planning began in 1901, and the first coal mine opened in 1902.