40 Main St
Dubuque, IA 52001, USA

Commercial & Industrial Buildings, M. M. Walker Company, Warehouse, 40 Main St Dubuque, Dubuque County, IA

Iowa`s largest such business, according to one source. That year he employed some 14 men, with two traveling salesmen. From the home office on Iowa Street, Walker oversaw trade throughout Iowa and in Minnesota, Illinois, South Dakota Wisconsin and as far south as New Orleans. Beginning in 1889, he maintained a retail grocery outlet in the Bishop`s Block [HABS No. IA-160-BA] on the corner of First and Main, and he eventually opened branch offices in Chicago and Fort Dodge, Iowa. A his five-year lease on the Bishop`s Block was expiring in 1894, Walker constructed this three-story structure to house his growing volume of stock and function as the main office and retail outlet for the business. In addition to his grocery business, Walker served at various times as a director for the First National Bank and the Dubuque and Sioux City Railroad, president of the Dubuque Board of Trade, an official of the Young Men`s Library Association, founder of the Dubuque Tank Line, vice president of the Dubuque Jobbers` Association, manager of the Key City Barrel Factory, part owner of the Dubuque Times and Fourth Ward alderman, among his many positions. Described as "of striking personality, over six feet tall, broad in proportion, genial, easily approached, optimistic and enthusiastic, sympathetic, a staunch friend of the deserving regardless of politics, religion, wealth or official position, a liberal contributor to all deserving projects, a profound student of men, and a great lover of home and country," he cut a widely recognized figure in early Dubuque. This building is historically important for its association with M.M. Walker at his zenith. Architecturally, it is a representative and well-preserved example of the 19th Century Functional structures built in Dubuque`s wholesale grocery and produce district along lower Main Street.