The claim: Wisconsin's oldest tavern

The Amber Inn is Wisconsin's oldest tavern: the oldest bar in the state still pouring, without a break, in the building a brewery built for it. Here is the claim in the words of Orville Johnson, who ran the bar for forty-four years, as reported by WQOW in May 2024: > "We are the oldest, I believe the oldest continuous operating bar in the same building built by the brewery itself, in the state of Wisconsin." That is the precise shape of it. Older buildings have held a bar at some point; older bars have moved, closed for years, or been rebuilt. This one has been a barroom on this corner every year since 1881, through Prohibition included, in the walls Walter Brewing raised for it. What is documented: - Built in 1881 by the Walter Brewing Company as a tied house.

• Sold by the brewery around 1910.
• Operated straight through Prohibition as a soft-drink parlor, George Berg Soft Drinks, from 1920.
• Same building, same street, the whole time. Researchers at UW–Eau Claire have looked into the history; if you have a photograph, a receipt or a story from the old days, bring it in. It belongs on the wall.