Editing Walker, Minnesota (section)

==History==
[[File:Walker, Minnesota 1901.jpg|thumb|left|Walker, 1901]]
The area was inhabited for thousands of years by succeeding cultures of [[indigenous peoples]]. Before European settlement, the [[Ojibwe]] moved into the area from the Great Lakes, pushing out the historic [[Sioux#Eastern Dakota|Dakota]] peoples, such as the [[Assiniboine people|Assiniboine]] and [[Hidatsa]]. European American settlers followed the early fur traders and trappers, and encroached on Native American territories.

Following the construction of the railroad to the area, Patrick McGarry founded Walker in 1896. He named the settlement after the logging giant [[T. B. Walker|Thomas B. Walker]], in hopes of luring construction of a sawmill. Walker instead chose to found and set up operations in nearby [[Akeley, Minnesota|Akeley]], because of his wife's moral objection to the bars and brothels in Walker, a rough frontier town. Walker developed with business, jobs and other services generated by four other logging companies.

Tourism later grew as a service industry. In the 20th century, people from urban areas came to more rural areas for recreation associated with lakes, fishing, hunting and water sports. The city reached its peak of population in 1950.

In 1907, Walker became the home of the [[Minnesota State Sanatorium for Consumptives|Ah-Gwah-Ching Center]], first constructed as a residential facility for [[tuberculosis]] (TB) patients, who at the time could be treated only with good nutrition and rest.<ref name="Straumanis">[http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/07/26_straumanisa_agcsidebar Andris Straumanis, "Ah-Gwa-Ching"], Minnesota Public Radio, July 26, 2004. Retrieved March 8, 2012</ref> By 1927, it had 300 patients. The facility had its own farm and dairy herd, the patients and staff put on skits and produced a newspaper, and it had its own railroad depot at one time. During the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]], it was a site for display of art produced by artists paid by the [[Works Progress Administration|WPA]], and it had the state's largest WPA art collection. In 1962, the facility was adapted as a state nursing home for psychiatric patients. The complex is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="Straumanis"/> The building was closed in 2008.