Walker Hall

Walker Hall. . Edgar Smith Walker was born June 3, 1858, in Cooper County, Missouri. He was educated in country schools and lived on a farm until the age of 18. While attending the University of Missouri, he accepted an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated in 1883, and was appointed a second lieutenant of infantry in the U.S. Army. He fought Native Americans in the Northwest, and taught for three years at the Missouri Military Academy. Following additional Service at Army posts in the U.S. and Alaska Territory, Walker was assigned to the Philippines, where in 1906 he commanded a battalion against insurgencies in Sumar and Leyte. He retired from active service that year. From 1908 until 1919, Col. Walker served as professor of military science and commandant of cadets at the University of Florida. From 1920 until 1936, he taught in the College of Engineering. Upon his death on January 1, 1955, in Gainesville, Col. Walker had been the oldest living graduate of West Point. , Built in 1926 as the Mechanical Engineering Building, this was the first major project of Rudolph Weaver in his role as architect to the Florida Board of Control. The contractor was the O.P. Woodcock Company. Weaver's design is faithful to the Collegiate Gothic style that predominates on the University campus, using red brick with stone detailing and a red clay tile roofing. In 1949 the building was re-dedicated in honor of Col. Walker. The south facade was changed in 1954, connecting Walker Hall to the new University [later Carleton] Auditorium. In 1973, a further renovation introduced air conditioning and Walker Hall was adapted to house the Department of Mathematics, which later moved to Little Hall. Walker Hall is part of the University of Florida Historic Campus District.