The Twin Lights Archive serves to preserve and share Pierce’s wealth of film, photos, memorabilia, and ephemera that he gathered and shared over his lifetime.

A much-loved and well-respected Rockport native, Pierce (or "PJ" to his friends) was best-known as the proprietor of Thomas Wilson Bottling Company, producer of the beloved local soda brand Twin Lights Tonic.

Twin Lights soda and tonic were iconic, a part of the fabric of Rockport and a staple at local spots like Jimmy's Sunrise on Front Beach and, later, the Little Arts Cinema. Pierce donated countless cases of Twin Lights for community events and fundraisers, and also set up the Twin Lights Trust to help preserve the nearby lighthouses that adorned his bottles.

Pierce was also an avid 8mm film camera buff, capturing dozens of hours of film footage of his family, friends, local Cape Ann events, and his travels around the United States, from as early as the late 1940s until 1980 when he switched to video tape. Pierce enjoyed screening his historic films to an appreciative live audience in Rockport.

When it came to classic movies, he was both a student and a fan. He amassed a considerable VHS & DVD collection and even attended the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival in Hollywood, California. A lover of sports, Pierce was a lifelong fan of the Boston teams and professional wrestling (he prominently displayed a photo of himself with wrestling legend George "The Animal" Steele, among others).

Pierce avidly collected film and sports memorabilia alongside his Moxie collectables, and held fast to leftover Twin Lights Tonic supplies. The Twin Lights Archive looks forward to sharing his travels and stories with our visitors.