David S. Walker Library

Last updated
David S. Walker Library
DavidSWalkerLbraryTLH.JPG
David S. Walker Library
USA Florida location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Tallahassee, Florida
Coordinates 30°26′29″N84°16′49″W / 30.44139°N 84.28028°W / 30.44139; -84.28028
Architectural style Classical Revival
NRHP reference No. 76000600 [1]
Added to NRHPJune 22, 1976

The David S. Walker Library was a private subscription library in Tallahassee, Florida. It was organized as the University Library in 1883. It was Tallahassee's first library. [2] [3] It is now a historic library building named for Governor David S. Walker, the eighth governor of Florida, who served from 1865 through 1868. [4] It is located 209 East Park Avenue. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The library building is one of 65 Leon County properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [5]

Contents

In 2018, it has no book collection nor has for many years, nor has it any library function, since the founding of the LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library in 1956.

The library building has served as the meeting place for the board of Springtime Tallahassee since 1977.

Throughout the 1980s and 90s the Library building served as a rentable space. The top level was a large open room with wooden floors, and served as a space for dance teams and instructors providing lessons and scheduling rehearsals in ballroom, tap, and other dance disciplines for many years.

History

David Shelby Walker was a native of Kentucky when he moved to Tallahassee, Florida in 1837. [6] He served as the eighth governor of Florida. Walker was elected governor of Florida after the Civil War ended. The country was recovering from the aftermath of the Civil War and so it was a tough time in office. Despite the turmoil, Walker's efforts to establish public education in Florida were a great achievement. While Walker was in office, in 1884, he offered two rooms for a library in a building he owned. Donations were raised by the community to buy books and create a reading room that was open to the public. [7] After Walker's death, the building was sold and Walker's wife donated the lot to the library association and the building was named in honor of Walker and his support for education and libraries. The Walker Library served as a library from 1903 to 1956, after which the library moved to the Columns.

Following a four-month restoration, the Walker library was converted into an upscale bar and restaurant, Bar 1903, by local restaurateurs Seven Hills Hospitality Group, which opened its doors in February 2020. [8] The building's internal restoration was mainly cosmetic, introducing a new bar, wood flooring rejuvenation and new paint throughout, preserving a majority of the library's original design and structural elements. Due to the age and historic nature of the library building, Bar 1903 can seat roughly 36 customers at a time.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tallahassee, Florida</span> Capital city of Florida, United States

Tallahassee is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2022, the population was 201,731, making it the eighth-most populous city in the state of Florida. The population of the Tallahassee metropolitan area was 385,145 as of 2018. Tallahassee is the largest city in the Florida Big Bend and Florida Panhandle region, and the main center for trade and agriculture in the Florida Big Bend and Southwest Georgia regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leon County, Florida</span> County in Florida, United States

Leon County is a county in the Panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. It was named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. As of the 2020 census, the population was 292,198.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Natural Bridge</span> Battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Natural Bridge was fought during the American Civil War in what is now Woodville, Florida near Tallahassee on March 6, 1865. A small group of Confederate troops and volunteers, which included teenagers from the nearby Florida Military and Collegiate Institute that would later become Florida State University, protected by breastworks, prevented a detachment of United States Colored Troops from crossing the Natural Bridge on the St. Marks River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard K. Call</span> Former Territorial Governor of Florida

Richard Keith Call was an American attorney, politician, and slave owner who served as the 3rd and 5th territorial governor of Florida. Before that, he was elected to the Florida Territorial Council and as a delegate to the U.S. Congress from Florida. In the mid-1830s, he developed two plantations in Leon County, Florida, one of which was several thousand acres in size. In 1860 he held more than 120 slaves and was the third-largest slaveholder in the county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David S. Walker</span> American judge and politician

David Shelby Walker was the eighth Governor of Florida, serving from 1866 to 1868.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leon High School</span> Public coeducational secondary school in Tallahassee, Florida, United States

Leon High School is a public high school in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is the oldest public high school in the state, and is a part of the Leon County Schools System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Grove Plantation</span> United States historic place

The Grove, known officially as the Call/Collins House at The Grove, is an antebellum plantation house located in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. Territorial Governor Richard Keith Call constructed The Grove circa 1840. By 1851, Call deeded the property to his daughter, Ellen Call Long, who owned it until 1903. Long's granddaughter, Reinette Long Hunt, acquired the property and owned it until her death in 1940. Hunt opened The Grove Hotel during this era and developed onsite cottages that served as rental properties. After a brief period under the ownership of John W. Ford and Josephine Agler, future Florida governor LeRoy Collins and his wife, Mary Call Darby Collins, a great-granddaughter of Richard Keith Call, bought The Grove.

The history of Tallahassee, Florida, much like the history of Leon County, dates back to the settlement of the Americas. Beginning in the 16th century, the region was colonized by Europeans, becoming part of Spanish Florida. In 1819, the Adams–Onís Treaty ceded Spanish Florida, including modern-day Tallahassee, to the United States. Tallahassee became a city and the state capital of Florida in 1821; the American takeover led to the settlements' rapid expansion as growing numbers of cotton plantations began to spring up nearby, increasing Tallahassees' population significantly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Bank (Tallahassee, Florida)</span> United States historic place

The Union Bank of Tallahassee, Florida was established around 1830 and the bank building constructed for it in 1841. It is Florida's oldest surviving bank building. It is located at Apalachee Parkway and Calhoun Street and is now a museum and archive and research center for African American history. On February 24, 1971, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Library at FAMU</span> United States historic place

The Carnegie Library at FAMU is a historic building on the campus of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida. Built in 1908, the two-story, white-columned building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. "It was part of a national building program by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie." The Black Archives was established by the Florida Legislature in 1971 and opened in 1975. It was one of many public and college libraries funded by Andrew Carnegie, which were named Carnegie Library after him. It is the oldest brick building on the campus and the first Carnegie Library to be built on a black land-grant college campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Governor's Mansion</span> Historic house in Florida, United States

The Florida Governor's Mansion is a historic U.S. residence in Tallahassee, Florida and the official residence of the governor of Florida. On July 20, 2006, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

William Augustus Edwards, also known as William A. Edwards was an Atlanta-based American architect renowned for the educational buildings, courthouses and other public and private buildings that he designed in Florida, Georgia and his native South Carolina. More than 25 of his works have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<i>Tallahassee Democrat</i> Newspaper in Tallahassee, Florida

The Tallahassee Democrat is a daily broadsheet newspaper. It covers the area centered on Tallahassee in Leon County, Florida, as well as adjacent Gadsden County, Jefferson County, and Wakulla County. The newspaper is owned by Gannett Co., Inc., which also owns the Pensacola News Journal, the Fort Myers News-Press, and Florida Today, along with many other news outlets.

Lincoln High School, also known as Lincoln Academy, was a high school for African Americans in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is commonly referred to as "Historic Lincoln High School" or "Old Lincoln". There is no connection with Leon County's current Lincoln High School other than name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Havana Northside High School</span> United States historic place

Havana Northside High School was a senior high school in Havana, Florida, and a part of the Gadsden County School District. The school mascot was the gladiator and the school colors were brown and gold. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library</span> Public library system in Florida

The LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library is a system of public libraries in Leon County, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aquilina Howell</span>

Aquilina Celia Casañas Howell was the first woman to serve as Assistant Superintendent of Leon County Schools, serving from 1981 until her retirement in 1985. Howell is credited as the driving force behind the peaceful desegregation of Tallahassee's public schools, using her consensus building skills to unite disparate groups.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mayor of Tallahassee, Florida</span>

The mayor of Tallahassee is head of the executive branch of the government of Tallahassee, Florida.

Henry S. Harmon was an attorney and politician in Florida after the Civil War. He was the first African-American to be admitted to the bar in Florida.

References

  1. "National Register Information System  (#76000600)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Taylor, George (2010-03-30). "David S. Walker Library, Tallahassee, FL". George Lansing Taylor Collection Main Gallery.
  3. Ensley, Gerald. "Historic Walker Library's future secure". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  4. "David S. Walker Library building at 209 E. Park Ave. in Tallahassee, Florida". Florida Memory: State Library and archives of Florida. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  5. Ensley, Gerald (April 21, 2016). "Next chapter for walker library". Tallahassee Democrat. ProQuest   1782920772.
  6. "Historic Walker Library's future secure".
  7. Saconchik-Pytel, Martha (August 2019). "Walker Library to be Resurrected" (PDF). The Apalachee Redux. Tallahassee Historical Society. 2 (2): 6–7. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  8. "Bar 1903: A toast to the next chapter of Tallahassee's first library".