Walker, Thomas Barlow (T. B.), (1840–1928)

Creator: Molly Huber

T. B. Walker, ca. 1915.

In the 1850s and 60s, Thomas Barlow (T. B.) Walker worked his way through school and into Minnesota's lumber industry, where he became unusually successful. He later helped found two of Minneapolis's significant cultural organizations: the public library system and the Walker Art Center.

T. B. Walker was born in Xenia, Ohio, in 1840. In 1849, his father invested all of the family's money in a wagon train of supplies, departed for the gold mines of California, and then died in Missouri, losing the entire investment. At just nine years old, Walker had to find work to help support his family. As a result, he had little chance to attend school.

Walker read books whenever he could, however, and when his family moved to Berea, Ohio, in 1856, he enrolled at Baldwin University there. Walker was only able to afford one term per year. He worked the rest of the time and kept up with his studies on his own, particularly excelling in mathematics. His future wife, Harriet Hulet, was a fellow student; they married in 1863.

Walker's work while in college varied from clerking in a store, to obtaining lumber for railroad ties, to selling grindstones door to door. In 1862, while trying to trace a misplaced shipment of grindstones, Walker came to St. Paul and met James J. Hill, when Hill was still employed as a shipping clerk. On a tip, Walker went to Minneapolis and within the day was employed by George Wright to survey land in northern Minnesota. About the same time, the University of Wisconsin-Madison offered Walker a job as an assistant professor of mathematics, but he decided to go ahead with surveying.

Walker used the inside knowledge he gained during the 1862 surveying project and other future projects among the pine forests of northern Minnesota to get his start in the lumber industry. He was able to convince investors to partner with him because of what he knew. He formed his first logging company, Butler, Mills and Walker, in 1868.

Walker pulled his money out of Butler, Mills and Walker and paid off his debts before the Panic of 1873. When the economy turned around later in the 1870s, he was well positioned to reinvest. He formed a second larger company, Camp and Walker, which expanded northern logging operations, acquired the Pacific Mill in Minneapolis, and built mills at Crookston and Grand Rapids.

Camp and Walker shut down operations in 1887, and later that year, Walker went into partnership with H. C. Akeley of Michigan. Their firm, Walker and Akeley, built logging railroads across Itasca County to the Red River to get their company's logs and lumber out of northern Minnesota. Walker founded his other firm, the Red River Lumber Company, with his sons in 1883.

Walker was known as an honorable man who paid his employees well. He experienced very little unrest among his workers related to wages or working conditions.

Walker lived in Minneapolis from 1863 on, despite traveling regularly for work in the mid-to-late 1860s. He was active in many projects related to the growth and development of the city. For example, he built a central commercial market that provided jobs and made Minneapolis a center of wholesale grocery distribution.

Along with Thomas Lowry, Walker was an early supporter of the Minnesota Academy of Science and a founding member of the Minneapolis Library Board. He was president of the Library Board from 1885 until his death. Earlier, he had been active in the Minneapolis Athenaeum, a private subscription library. He strove first to make the Athenaeum's policies more liberal and friendly to the public and later to place the Athenaeum in partnership with the city's public library system.

Walker was also an avid art collector, building one of the largest private collections in the region. He installed his collection in dedicated rooms in his house at 8th Street and Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis and allowed the public to see it for free. As his collection grew, he decided to found his own museum, the Walker Art Gallery, which was built at 1710 Lyndale Avenue South on land Walker purchased from Thomas Lowry. The gallery was completed in 1927, before Walker's death on July 29, 1928. The gallery was reorganized into the Walker Art Center in 1939 and continues to have a lasting cultural impact.

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Huber, Molly. "Walker, Thomas Barlow (T. B.), (1840–1928)." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. https://www3.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/walker-thomas-barlow-t-b-1840-1928

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First Published: June 06, 2011

Last Modified: April 15, 2025

Bibliography

"The Atheneum." Minneapolis Tribune, February 10, 1880.

Biographies of Thomas B. Walker and Harriet G. Walker of Minneapolis, Minn. New York: James T. White and Co., 1915.

Biography of T. B. Walker for the 120th Anniversary of his Birth. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, [1960].

Bray, Martha C. "The Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences." Minnesota History 39, no.3 (Fall 1964): 111–122.
http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/39/v39i03p111-122.pdf

Clark, Neil McCullough. "The Whistle of a Steamboat Determined His Career." American Magazine, March, 1926.

Engebretson, Betty L. "Books for Pioneers: The Minneapolis Athenaeum." Minnesota History 35, no. 5 (March 1957): 222–232.
http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/35/v35i05p222-232.pdf

Freestone, Robert. "Minneapolis Public Library and T. B. Walker, Part One." Hennepin County History 37, no. 2 (Summer 1978): 4–13.

_____. "Minneapolis Public Library and T. B. Walker, Part Two." Hennepin County History 37, no. 3 (Fall 1978): 10–16.

Hagg, Harold T. "The Beltrami County Logging Frontier." Minnesota History 29, no. 2 (June 1948): 137–149.
http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/29/v29i02p137-149.pdf

Hanft, Robert M. Red River: Paul Bunyan's Own Lumber Company and Its Railroads. Chico, CA: California State University, Chico, [1980].

Hess, Jeffrey A. Their Splendid Legacy: The First 100 Years of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, 1985.

"The History of the Central City Market." Minneapolis Journal, December 31, 1922.

Larson, Philip. "Thomas Barlow Walker: From Private Collection to Public Art Center." Hennepin County History 30, no. 4 (Spring-Summer 1971): 4–13.

Peterson, David B. "Conservation of the Forests: A Lumber Baron's Perspective." Master's thesis, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, 1991.

Sketches of the Life of Honorable T. B. Walker. Minneapolis: Lumberman Publishing Company, 1907.

Related Resources

Primary

T. B. Walker and family papers, 1856–2010
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Personal papers and business records of a Minnesota lumber magnate and art collector, and of his descendants. Includes records of the Red River Lumber Company, a family-owned corporation that operated in both Minnesota and California. There are records of a variety of Walker's companies, business partnerships, and his art collection and gallery, as well as papers and business records of his children and grandchildren.
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00093.xml

T. B. Walker and Family Papers, 1914–1990
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00093.xml
Description: Inventory of their papers.

T.B Walker Foundation and Related Foundations, 1925–1984
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00100.xml
Description: An inventory of their records.

Conservation Department, Lands and Minerals Division, [c.1883]–1937,
Minnesota State Archives, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/cons070.pdf
Description: Inventory of its abstracts of title and land patents, with land patents granted to T. B. Walker.

293
Announcing the fiftieth anniversary of the marriage of Thomas Barlow Walker and Harriet Granger Hulet, December nineteenth, Nineteen thirteen
Photograph Albums, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Portraits of Thomas and Harriet Walker and their children.

P1237
Raphael Zon Papers, 1887–1957
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Zon was a forester who directed the Lake States Forest Experiment Station in St. Paul from 1923 to 1944.

P2086
Edward M. Conant Reminiscences, 1943–1953
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Papers include personal remembrances of T. B. Walker.

P2382
Clive T. Jaffray Reminiscences, 1956
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Papers include personal remembrances of T. B. Walker.

P2385
Forest History Society, 1953–1957
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/P2385.xml
Description: An inventory of interviews with pioneer lumbermen.

Cross, Henry H. Descriptive catalogue with reproductions of life-size bust portraits of famous Indian chiefs, great medicine men, notable Indian warriors and renowned explorers, scouts and guides. Minneapolis: Press of Hahn and Harmon Co., 1909. Editor's note: T. B. Walker owned all of the works depicted in this book.

Finnegan, John R., Sr., and Cara A. Finnegan. "Birth of a Resort: The Chase Hotel and the Rise of Lakeside Tourism." Minnesota History 61, no. 6 (Summer 2009): 272–283.

Scammon, E.G., and Thomas B. Walker. Forests, Private Ownership and Conservation. Minneapolis: [N.p.], 1915.

Walker, T. B. Address delivered by T. B. Walker at dedication of Methodist Episcopal Church at Akeley, Minnesota, June 13, 1909. [N.p., 1909?].

———. Catalog of the art collection of T. B. Walker, 803 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minneapolis: The Center, 1900.

———. Catalog of the art collection of T. B. Walker, 803 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 1907.

———. Catalogue of ancient art, representing the finest eighth century Persian porcelains, magnificent specimens of Greek vases of the sixth to the second century B.C., also Tanagran sculptured figures of the same period. [Minneapolis? 19--?].

———. Catalogue of paintings and sculpture placed in the Minneapolis public library, by Thomas B. Walker, with appendix giving list and description of paintings and sculpture loaned and presented by others. [Minneapolis?], 1909.

———. Descriptive Catalogue of the Thomas B. Walker Art Collection, 803 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, Minn. [Minneapolis: s.n.], 1913.

———. "Conservation of the Future Lumber Supply." Bulletin of the Minnesota Academy of Science, 4, no. 3 (1910): 347–356.

———. Low Tariffs and Hard Times: A Review of Our Tariff Rates, from 1821–1895. Chicago: National Republican League of the United States, 1895.

———. "Memories of the Early Life and Development of Minnesota." Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society 15 (May 1915): 455–478.

———. The Monetary Question: An Address. [Minneapolis? 189?].

———. "The Outlook Before the Young Man of Today." Minneapolis Journal, December 13, 1897.

———. "Professor Winchell's Relations with the Academy of Science." Bulletin of the Minnesota Academy of Science 5, no. 2 (July 1914): 73–77.

———. The Relation of the Tariff to the Public Welfare. Minneapolis, 1916.

Secondary

Abbe, Mary. "Art Lover T. B. Walker: Where It All Began." Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 9, 2005.

Adams, R.H. Catalog, illustrated and descriptive, of the religious paintings placed by Thomas B. Walker in the auditorium and Sunday school rooms, Guild Hall, Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church, Minneapolis, Minn. [Minnesota: N.p., 1936?].

———. Descriptive catalogue of carved jades, crystal, smoky, blue acquamarine, pink, rose, carnelian and rutile quartz, amethyst, topaz, chalcedony, lapis-lazuli, amber, coral, azurite malachite, etc. [Minneapolis, 19--?]. (Editor's Note: Describes T. B. Walker's art collection.)

Bachmann, Elizabeth M. "Minnesota Log Marks." Minnesota History 26 no. 2 (June 1945): 126-137.
http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/26/v26i02p126-137.pdf

Chapple, Joe Mitchell. "In the Walker Art Gallery." National Magazine 37 no. 3 (Dec. 1912): 569-575.

Freestone, Robert. "Minneapolis Public Library From 1885, Part One." Hennepin County History 38 no. 2 (Summer 1979): 13-22.

———. "Minneapolis Public Library From 1885, Part Two." Hennepin County History 39, no. 1 (Spring 1980): 3–9.

Hagg, Harold T. "The Lumberjacks' Sky Pilot." Minnesota History 31, no. 2 (June 1950): 65–78.
http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/31/v31i02p065-078.pdf

Heilbron, Bertha L. "Making a Motion Picture in 1848: Henry Lewis on the Upper Mississippi." Minnesota History 17, no. 2 (June 1936): 131–149.
http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/17/v17i02p131-158.pdf

Larson, Agnes M. History of the White Pine Industry in Minnesota. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1949.

Lowry, Goodrich. Streetcar Man. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1979.

Shippee, Lester B. "Walker, Thomas Barlow." Dictionary of American Biography, vol. 10. 8th ed. Dumas Malone, ed. New York: Charles Scribner and Sons, 1936. 361-362.

Yates-Borger, Judith. "T. B. Walker, Etched into the Fabric of a City." Twin Cities 5, no. 7 (July 1982): 22–29, 64–68.

Web

Walker Art Center. History.
http://www.walkerart.org/about/mission-history

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T.B. Walker Art Gallery, 807 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis

Walker Art Gallery T.B. Walker standing on Grand Stairway, Minneapolis

T. B. Walker

T. B. Walker, ca. 1915.

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Walker, Thomas Barlow (T. B.), (1840–1928)

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T.B. Walker Art Gallery

T.B. Walker Art Gallery, 807 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, c.1890.

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Walker Art Gallery; T.B. Walker on Grand Stairway

T.B. Walker standing on the grand staircase of the Walker Art Gallery, Minneapolis, c.1925.

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T. B. Walker

Thomas Barlow (T. B.) Walker. Photograph by the Minneapolis Journal, ca. 1926.

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T. B. Walker and Harriet Granger Walker

Thomas Barlow (T. B.) Walker and Harriet Granger Walker.

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T. B. Walker with his five sons

Thomas Barlow (T. B.) Walker with his five sons (left to right): Fletcher, Willis, Archie, T. B., Gilbert, and Clinton, 1907. Leon, a sixth son, had died in 1887.

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Hot Ponds

Lowry, Thomas (1843–1909)

St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Minnesota's Urban Origins

Lumberjack Sky Pilots

Higgins, Francis "Frank" E., (1865–1915)

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Turning Point

In 1862, Thomas Barlow (T. B.) Walker takes a job surveying land in northern Minnesota, instead of becoming a mathematics professor. The knowledge he gains as a surveyor gives him a head start in the lumber industry.

Chronology

1840

Thomas Barlow (T. B.) Walker is born in Xenia, Ohio.

1849

At nine years old, Walker begins working to help support his family.

1856

Walker enrolls at Baldwin University in Berea, Ohio.

1862

He visits Minneapolis and takes a job surveying land in northern Minnesota.

1863

Walker marries Harriet Hulet and takes up residence in Minneapolis.

1868

He forms his first company, Butler, Mills and Walker.

1883

Walker founds the Red River Lumber Company with his sons.

1885

He becomes president of the Minneapolis Library Board and holds the position until his death.

1887

Walker partners with H. C. Akeley of Michigan and builds logging railroads.

1927

The Walker Art Gallery, built to house Walker’s extensive art collection, is completed.

1928

Walker dies on July 29.