In the late 19th century, Thomas B. Walker was a key figure in Minneapolis art and culture. He was a member of the Minneapolis Athenaeum, the city's first lending library, and led a progressive wing of members in advocating for a public library system. By the 1870s, Walker began collecting paintings and other works of art for his house. In 1879, he built a gallery between his residence and his carriage house to display 20 paintings, which served as the first public gallery in the Midwest.
Walker continued to share his collection with the public, contributing art to the Minneapolis Public Library's gallery in 1892. In 1909, he donated two lots at 29th and Hennepin Avenue worth $42,700 to the Library Board to help provide more reading rooms and educational paths for the city. He also donated an additional 30 feet along Hennepin Avenue to ensure the site was sufficient for a branch library. Local architect Jerome Paul Jackson designed the resulting building in a Classical Revival style with a portico and Ionic columns.
On June 13, 1911, the Walker Branch Library celebrated its grand opening. The first librarian was Lucy C. Dinsmore, who served until 1925. The library was established in a sparsely populated area and helped fulfill the wishes of head librarian Gratia Countryman to bring books closer to the people. Today, the site remains a part of the library's history, located on Hennepin Avenue one block north of Lake Street, adjoining the Midtown Greenway.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
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