The Ridge Historical Society
National Library Week – The Walker Branch Library
By Carol Flynn
April 23 to 29 was National Library Week, and we’re looking at the history of the libraries on the Ridge. The previous post covered the first library on the Ridge, the Blue Island Public Library. This post will look at the Walker Branch Library in Morgan Park.
George Clarke Walker (1835 – 1905), a prominent merchant and financier, gave Morgan Park its library.
Walker was born in New York, and came to Chicago at the age of 12. His father rose to prominence in Chicago as a grain merchant who helped establish the Board of Trade, the “old” University of Chicago, and the city’s first railroads. Walker took after his father with his acumen for business and community development. He was a founder of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, the Illinois Humane Society, and the South Park system (which merged into the Chicago Park District).
In 1861, Walker organized the Blue Island Land and Building Company (BILBC), which was deemed “one of the great business undertakings of his life” and which “occupied nearly half his life.”
In 1869, BILBC bought much of the land of the original Thomas Morgan estate for development. They planned a community they called “Morgan Park” and hired Englishman Thomas F. Nichols to lay out the land to look like an English village. Beginning in 1873, the development was marketed to the public.
Morgan Park was positioned as an education, religious, and temperance community, and a good library was a necessity. In 1889, the Morgan Park Library Association was formed, headed by three of the leading residents, Isaac S. Blackwelder, Frank P. Silva, and Charles O. Ten Broeke. Other trustees included Dr. William H. German and Austin W. Wiswell. Subscriptions lists, or memberships, were started, and the growing community responded – there were 121 subscriptions within a few months. Many early community libraries were established as private undertakings, financed by membership fees and donations.
Although Walker never lived in Morgan Park, he was heavily invested in the area and supportive of improvements, and was behind the plans for the library. He personally financed the building of the library.
Walker hired architect Charles Sumner Frost to design the plans, and the Romanesque-style structure was built in 1889-90 from limestone quarried in Joliet. The builder was M.E. Baldwin. The building cost Walker about $10,000, quite a sum for the day. Walker also donated the beginnings of the book collection. The library opened on April 22, 1890.
Miss Mills was the first librarian. She was known for her attention to detail and accurate record keeping. The library got off to a good start, with about a thousand visitors in the first six months.
The library became part of the Chicago Public Library (CPL) system when Morgan Park annexed to the City of Chicago in 1914. The original exterior limestone walls are the oldest structure owned by the CPL.
The library facilities were allowed to be used for other purposes. In its very first year, for example, the Presbyterian Association of Morgan Park held its services there. During World War II, the library was used as the headquarters for local defense operations.
The building is a contributing structure to the Ridge Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The additions were built in 1929 -1933 and major renovations went on in 1995.
The Walker Branch Library is located at 111th Street and Hoyne Avenue.