Hunt, Herbert and Floyd C. Kaylor.  Washington: West of the 
Cascades.  Vol. II.  Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1917.  p. 
580-581.

	GEORGE R. WALKER:  George R. Walker is the secretary 
of the Southwest Washington Fair Association, in which 
connections he is doing much to stimulate industrial and agricultural 
activity in his section of the state and raise standards along those 
lines.  He was born in Canada, near Sterling, in 1864, but was only 
three years of age when taken by his parents to Michigan.  He 
resided near Ann Arbor, that state, for a considerable period, but 
came to Washington twenty-eight years ago, making his way to 
Centralia, where he was engaged in merchandising for five years.  
Twenty-three years ago he removed to Chehalis and there held a 
position with the Northern Pacific Railway Company for a period of 
three years.  For five years he was with William Urquhart in the dry 
goods business.  In 1892 he opened the first exclusive shoe store in 
Chehalis and he continued active in mercantile circles until about two 
years ago.
	There is no man who has done more for public progress and 
improvement along various lines than Mr. Walker, whose activities 
have been wisely directed and have become most resultant.  He took 
an active part in the North Pacific Fair Association and was elected a 
member of the advisory board of the western board of appeals in the 
American Trotting Association.  He has done much for the 
promotion of agricultural and stock raising interests in Lewis 
county.  The Southwest Washington Fair Association was organized 
ten years ago as a state institution.  Six citizens from Centralia and 
from Chehalis constituted a committee to select a place for holding 
the fair.  The committee appointed, after much study and 
consideration of the subject from every standpoint, recommended 
the site now owned and it was purchased at two hundred dollars per 
acre, the amount secured being thirty acres.  A committee of three 
was appointed to canvas the towns of Centralia and Chehalis and 
raise the six thousand dollars paid for the land.  They then went 
before the state legislature to ask for the aid of the state.  The state 
made an appropriation of fifteen thousand dollars, used in erecting 
buildings.  About four years ago the legislature decided to turn over 
the project to the district comprising the six counties of Lewis, 
Thurston, Pacific, Grays Harbor, Cowlitz, and Wahkiakum.  The 
state legislature made an appropriation sufficient to place it on a cash 
basis and it was turned over to Lewis county free of all encumbrance 
and the fair is now under the control of the county commissioners, 
who can appropriate one-half-mill tax for expenses if necessary, but 
only one-fourth of a mill has ever been appropriated.  The chairman 
of the county commissioners is also chairman of the fair board.  
From the beginning F. B. Hubbard has been the president, with 
George R. Walker as the secretary.  Meetings have been held every 
year to stimulate an interest in higher and better achievements along 
the lines of agricultural development and industrial development and 
upbuilding.  The fair is educational in its purposes and its results.  
Good buildings have been erected on the grounds and a grandstand 
has been built with a seating capacity for five thousand people.  
Race meets are there held every year which are considered not only 
the best in Washington but in the entire northwest.
	In addition to his activities along that line as secretary of the 
association, Mr. Walker is also identified with the Lewis County 
Pure Breeders Club, which was organized in January, 1916, with 
N. B. Coffman as president, F. M. Svinth, vice president, and J. E. 
McDonald, secretary and treasurer.  This was formed for promoting 
and encouraging the raising of pure bred registered stock.  The 
members are all owners of one or more pure bred animals and the 
officers of the company are elected annually.  The second meeting of 
the association took the form of a picnic, which was held in the 
summer of 1916.  The summer meeting is made a social meeting, 
while the January meeting is for the purpose of business.  With the 
removal of Mr. McDonald, Mr. Walker became secretary and 
treasurer on the 20th of June, 1916, and at the meeting on the 17th 
of February, 1917, N. B. Coffman was elected president, with Mr. 
Svinth as vice president.  There are now thirty-five active members 
and ten honorary members, with eighty other prospective members, 
who are breeders of pure bred stock in Lewis county.  Mr. Walker 
is thus doing active and effective work to further the development of 
the county along high standards.  After the Fair Association holds its 
meeting at Chehalis its exhibits are sent to Yakima and later are 
given to the railroad company for exhibition in the east.  Mr. Walker 
recommends that a permanent exhibit be established in Chehalis.
	In 1916 Mr. Walker was united in marriage to Mrs. Collier.  
He is very prominent in fraternal circles.  For twenty-six years he 
has been a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and 
has served as grand foreman of Washington.  For a quarter of a 
century he attended its grand lodge and was on its finance committee 
for six years.  He was grand representative to the state meeting of 
the Knights of Pythias in Spokane in 1917.  In politics he is also 
deeply interested and is now president of the Chehalis Republican 
Club.  He held the office of councilman for two terms and stands at 
all times as a stalwart supporter of public improvement, whether 
obtained through political activity or individual effort.


Walker  Urquhart  Hubbard  Coffman  Svinth  McDonald  Colliers
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CAN>MI>Lewis-WA