jun 2, 1868 - Edward P. Allis opens his Reliance Work's shop in Walker's Point

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Edward P. Allis was neither an inventor nor a mechanic, but rather one of the purest exemplars of the entrepreneurial spirit Milwaukee has ever known. It was Allis, more than any other individual, who made the city's name synonymous with machinery. Born in Cazenovia, New York, he came west in 1846 as a twenty-one-year-old college graduate in search of opportunities. In 1861 he bought the Reliance Works, a bankrupt machine shop on the Milwaukee River near Wells Street. In 1867 he outgrew his location and moved to a twenty-acre site in Walker's Point, near First and Florida Streets. The new shop turned out flour-milling equipment, small steam engines, and heating plants, but Allis was certain that his crews could build anything. When Milwaukee announced plans for a municipal waterworks in 1871, he decided to bid on both the pipes and the pumps even though he had never manufactured either product! He proceeded to turn out equipment that exceeded the city's expectations. In 1900, the company expanded again, purchasing 100 acres of open land near what is now the intersection of Greenfield Avenue and S. 70th Street. Located four miles due west of the original Allis Works, the incipient suburb was called, naturally, West Allis.

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