Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Industry & Commerce, People, Site

Location

53 Brooklyn St, Warsaw, NY 14569, USA

Lat/Long

42.737302, -78.135125

Grant Recipient

Warsaw Historical Society and The Gates House Museum

Lewis E. Walker (1826-1916) was born and raised in Warsaw, New York. As a young man, he lived for short time in Ohio. He returned to Warsaw in 1854 and opened a bookstore on West Buffalo Street. In addition to a variety of books, he sold stationery, pens, wallpaper, picture frames, and other related goods. Walker also published and sold stereoscopic photos, many depicting scenes of western New York state. According to the Library of Congress, stereoscopic photos were at peak popularity between 1870 and 1920 (loc.gov/pictures/collection/stereo/). They consist of two almost identical photos paired to create an illusion of a single three-dimensional image when looked at through a special viewing device called a stereoscope.

Walker operated his bookstore until around 1901 and lived in Warsaw until his death on December 31, 1916. He is buried in Warsaw Cemetery. In a memorial published in the January 7, 1917 issue of the Western New Yorker, Reverend George H. Burgess described Walker as follows:

“He never grew old. He was ninety years young. He never lived in the past. He lived in the present. He brought the future down to today and so he lived in advance of his time.

Mr. Walker was an optimist. He always emphasized the bright and best in life, and believed in the redeeming feature of everybody.”