Grocery Merchants of Railroad Street
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For years, the Wallace Brothers operated a grocery on Railroad Street, serving the growing commercial district that would later become known as the Wallace Block
Part of the Wallace Block Series
In the early 1890s, George R. Wallace and Erwin E. “Erve” Wallace operated a grocery, fruit, and chinaware business on East Railroad Street in Sandwich under the name Wallace Bros.
The Wallace brothers were sons of Paul W. Wallace, who had established a meat market at the corner of Eddy and Railroad Streets in 1872. As Sandwich grew in the late nineteenth century, the next generation of the Wallace family expanded beyond the meat trade into general grocery and household goods.
A period photograph from the early 1890s shows the brothers standing in the doorway of their wooden storefront. Barrels, produce crates, and stacked goods line the boardwalk, offering a glimpse of Railroad Street commerce before the era of brick commercial blocks. The image captures the transitional character of downtown Sandwich at a time when wooden storefronts were gradually being replaced with more permanent masonry structures.
In 1893, Paul W. Wallace and his sons constructed the substantial brick building known as the P. W. Wallace & Sons’ Block at what is now 102 East Railroad Street. By 1894, Wallace Bros. had moved their grocery business into the newly completed structure.
The transition from boardwalk storefront to brick commercial block marked both business growth and generational continuity. The carved stone reading “P. W. Wallace & Sons” affirmed the Wallace family enterprise as one of the stable fixtures of Railroad Street commerce.
The Wallace brothers’ grocery business formed part of the broader commercial ecosystem housed within the Wallace Block, which would also include banking, pharmacy, and later bakery operations.
Though the grocery trade would eventually change hands, the Wallace family’s early presence helped define the character of Railroad Street during Sandwich’s period of late nineteenth-century expansion.
George R. Wallace
(Wallace Brothers Grocery Merchant)
George R. Wallace was one of the sons of Paul W. Wallace and Sarah Webster Erwin Wallace of Sandwich. Raised during the formative years of Railroad Street commerce, he became associated with the family business at a young age.
In the early 1890s, George partnered with his brother Erwin E. Wallace under the name Wallace Bros., operating a grocery, fruit, and chinaware business on East Railroad Street. Following construction of the P. W. Wallace & Sons’ Block in 1893, the brothers moved their enterprise into the new brick building in 1894.
George was part of the second generation that expanded the Wallace family’s commercial presence in downtown Sandwich, helping transition the family from a meat market operation into broader retail trade.
Erwin E. “Erve” Wallace
(Wallace Brothers Grocery Merchant)
Erwin E. Wallace, often referred to as “Erve,” was a son of Paul W. Wallace and Sarah Webster Erwin Wallace. Growing up in Sandwich after the family’s arrival in 1863, he entered the family’s commercial sphere during the town’s period of late nineteenth-century growth.
In partnership with his brother George, Erwin operated the Wallace Bros. grocery and produce business in the early 1890s. A surviving photograph shows the brothers standing before their wooden storefront prior to the construction of the Wallace Block.
When the P. W. Wallace & Sons’ Block was completed in 1893, Erwin and his brother relocated their grocery business into the new brick building. This move marked a generational expansion of the Wallace family enterprise and cemented their role in Railroad Street commerce.
The Wallace Block Landmark Series
Explore the articles that tell the story of the Wallace Block and the businesses that shaped its history.
- The Wallace Block – Landmark Overview
- Businesses of the Wallace Block
- Sedgwick Bank in the Wallace Block