John A. Wallis

John A. Wallis was a longtime brewer in Bangor. For decades, from 1842 to 1872, he made only soft drinks. He then began producing small beer at his Exchange Block location. He continued brewing beer until his death in 1896.

Wallis occupied a number of spaces throughout his 54 years of beverage manufacturing, The two longest addresses were on Exchange Street (from at least 1848 till 1859) and in the basement of the Kenduskeag Block (from 1875 till 1890). In his later years of business, the venture grew quite large for the time, reportedly having twelve assistants in 1888. In that same year, Wallis’s business was reported as the sole eastern Maine agent for Moxie, a Maine specialty, which at the time was lauded as a cure-all.

Wallis was born in Guilford, Maine sometime around 1816 to 1818. He moved to Bangor with his family around 1828. He worked as a toll collector at the Orono bridge before he moved on to making beverages. The obituary carried in the  Daily Whig and Courier  asserted, “He was an able business man and in his social life was a genial friend to all who knew him, and he was held in the highest esteem by all for his sterling qualities.”

Locations are true to 19th-century street addresses, not current numbering.