Walker Branch Library
About this property
Walker Library is a public library in the East Isles neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is on Hennepin Avenue one block north of Lake Street, adjoining the Midtown Greenway. Walker and the 14 other libraries of Minneapolis Public Library were merged into the combined urban/suburban Hennepin County Library in 2008. The original building was built in 1911, when the Hennepin/Lake area was sparsely populated. T. B. Walker, the president of the library board at the time, donated some land for the site of the library. The opening of this library coincided with the opening of a streetcar line on Lake Street, and it helped fulfill head librarian Gratia Countryman's wishes to expand the library system and bring books closer to people. Local architect Jerome Paul Jackson designed the library in a Classical Revival design. The portico, with Ionic columns, shows Beaux-Arts characteristics. Thomas Barlow Walker was involved in many aspects of Minneapolis art and culture. He was a member of the Minneapolis Athenaeum, the first lending library in Minneapolis, established in 1859. He led the progressive wing of Athenaeum members in advocating for a Public Library, established in 1885 with the main library opening in 1889. In the 1870s Walker began collecting paintings and other works of art for his house on 8th and Hennepin Ave. In 1879 Walker built a gallery between his residence and his carriage house to display 20 paintings. This was the first public gallery in the Midwest. He collected landscapes, portraits, historical paintings and bronzes, miniatures, classical and Asian art. By 1892 Walker opened three more gallery rooms and also was contributing art to the public library's art gallery its location at 10th and Hennepin Ave. In 1908 the Lyndale branch of the Minneapolis Public Library, was created. Thomas B. Walker wrote in the Minneapolis Public Library Board 1910 annual report that the city needed more branch libraries and reading rooms not only to provide a path for citizenship and education but, “To offset these temptations and demoralizing influences which to an ever-increasing extent afflict society.” In an effort to compete with the city's saloons, the Walker Branch was first envisioned in 1909, when Minneapolis Library Board member Thomas B. Walker donated two lots at 29th and Hennepin worth $42,700 to the Library Board. In 1910 Paul Jerome Jackson was selected as the project's architect. The Library's Building Committee also determined the two lots were not a sufficient of amount of land to build a branch library and Mr. Walker donated an additional 30 feet along Hennepin Avenue.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Walker Branch Library listed on the National Register?
Walker Branch Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 25, 2000.
What type of historic resource is Walker Branch Library?
Walker Branch Library is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Walker Branch Library?
The period of significance for Walker Branch Library is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Walker Branch Library?
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