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Local figure

Houston J. Walker

Houston J. Walker founded Walker's Funeral Home in Hillsborough in 1922 with his son Allen H. Walker Sr., in a converted country store across from the courthouse on South Churton Street. The family business later opened homes in Chapel Hill and Mebane. In December 1963 the chapel of its new building at 204 North Churton Street was dedicated in honor of Walker and his late wife, Minnie Montgomery Walker.

Source: NC State Historic Preservation Office: National Register file OR0077ad

Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to Houston J. Walker. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about Houston J. Walker’s life and work. Suggest a source.

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each opens its own page, with its events date by date.

StorylineHillsborough's roller mill, 1893–19641893–1964 · 7 events · When a contractor razed Walker Milling Co.'s three-story landmark on Court Square in 1964 to clear the lot for parking, historical groups asked the commissioners to save it, but by a split vote they agreed only to buy its old handmade bricks for resale. The story began in 1893, when Jackson Crabtree's new Hillsboro Roller Mills started turning out flour. In 1900 the Hillsboro Milling and Manufacturing Company organized under Dr. C. D. Jones, and Crabtree later sold it the old river mill. By 1917 Houston J. Walker and his brother had bought the roller mill. In 1963 Charles M. Walker Jr. said he would close the business, and the commissioners bought the mill and its lot for $25,000. StorylineWalker's Funeral Home, 1922–19631922–1963 · 4 events · A Hillsborough family business opened in 1922 by Houston J. Walker and his son Allen H. Walker Sr. grew over four decades into a funeral firm with branches in Chapel Hill and Mebane. The Walkers began with a Model T Ford and a Reo hearse. In 1936 the firm bought and remodeled a building at 120 West Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, and in January 1937 the Weekly reported the branch finished and open, with I. M. Walker as manager and day-and-night ambulance service. A Mebane branch followed in 1945. On its 41st anniversary in 1963 the firm dedicated the chapel in its brick building on North Churton Street in Hillsborough, honoring Houston J. Walker and his late wife.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 9 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Allen J. and Annie Gray Ruffin buy the James A. Cheek House The Cheek family, owners since about 1875, sells the Italianate house at 219 North Churton Street to Allen J. and Annie Gray Ruffin in October 1907, for $5,000 with five acres. Annie Gray Ruffin, by then a widow, sold it to Houston J. Walker in 1919. People: Houston J. Walker, James A. Cheek, Allen Jones Ruffin Place: James A. Cheek House, 219 North Churton Street, Hillsborough · Also named: Annie Gray RuffinSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 219 North Churton Street, James A. Cheek House · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), October 10, 1907, p. 3
  2. J. D. Webb chairs the Orange County board of commissioners J. D. Webb of Chapel Hill presided as chairman of the county commissioners, with Charles E. Wilson and Thomas A. Atwater in 1911 and with a five-member board of John P. Hughes, Willard R. Lloyd, H. J. Walker and William T. Reynolds in 1914. People: Junius D. Webb, Houston J. Walker Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Charles E. Wilson, Thomas A. Atwater, John P. Hughes, Willard R. Lloyd, William T. ReynoldsSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), October 5, 1911, p. 5
  3. Houston J. Walker and his brother buy the roller mill at Hillsboro Former county commissioner Houston J. Walker and his brother bought the roller mill at Hillsboro and planned to add new machinery and overhaul it. Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), May 31, 1917, p. 5
  4. Houston J. Walker buys the James A. Cheek House from Annie Gray Ruffin Annie Gray Ruffin, widowed since she and Allen J. Ruffin bought the Cheek house in 1908, sold it to Houston J. Walker. Three years later Walker and his son Allen H. Walker Sr. opened Walker's Funeral Home in Hillsborough. People: Allen Jones Ruffin, James A. Cheek, Houston J. Walker Place: 219 North Churton Street, Hillsborough · Also named: Annie Gray Ruffin, Allen H. Walker Sr. · Also mentions: Walker's Funeral HomeSearch the index · Hillsborough Historic District National Register Additional Documentation (2014), pdf p. 38
  5. Houston J. Walker and Allen H. Walker Sr. open Walker's Funeral Home in Hillsborough Houston J. Walker and his son Allen H. Walker Sr. opened Walker's Funeral Home in Hillsborough, buying a Model T Ford and a Reo hearse. The family added branches in Chapel Hill in 1937 and Mebane in 1945. People: Houston J. Walker Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Allen H. Walker Sr. · Also mentions: Walker's Funeral HomeSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 28, 1963, p. 12 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 9, 1964, p. 16
  6. Orange County delegation studies the Vance County hospital as a model County Commissioner J. C. Lloyd and a group from Chapel Hill and Hillsboro visited the 22-bed Vance County hospital at Henderson, which the Duke Foundation helped support. An account in the Weekly argued that a similar hospital would cost Orange little more than building and running a new county home. People: George H. Lawrence, Houston J. Walker, Peter L. Burch Place: Vance County hospital, Henderson (Orange County delegation) · Also named: J. C. LloydSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 5, 1929, p. 5
  7. Orange County's officers face no opposition in the Democratic primary C. A. Bivins, chairman of the county board of elections, announced that every county officer would run again without a primary opponent, so the clerk of court, sheriff, register of deeds, coroner, board of education and county commissioners would stay in office. John W. Umstead, Jr., was also unopposed for the county's seat in the state house. People: Houston J. Walker, Collier Cobb Jr., Samuel Weldon Andrews, Ben F. Wilson, Kemp S. Cate, James S. Compton, Alonzo W. Kenion, Samuel T. Latta Jr., Charles W. Stanford Place: Orange County · Also named: C. A. Bivins, John W. UmsteadSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 24, 1942, p. 1
  8. Orange County Democrats sweep the 1946 general election In a vote of about 2,500, Democrats won every county office: Sheriff S. T. Latta beat Luther Parker 1,892 to 845, John W. Umstead beat J. R. Evans for the House 1,881 to 697, and Collier Cobb Jr., Ben F. Wilson and H. G. Laws were elected commissioners. Coroner H. J. Walker led the ticket with 2,018 votes and James Webb of Hillsboro was elected state senator. People: Houston J. Walker, Collier Cobb Jr., Carl T. Durham, Edwin M. Lynch, Ben F. Wilson, Samuel T. Latta Jr., Hubert G. Laws Place: Orange County precincts · Also named: S. T. Latta, John W. Umstead, James Webb, J. Ed Laws, J. R. Evans, Luther ParkerSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 7, 1946, p. 1
  9. Walker's Funeral Home dedicates its chapel at 204 North Churton Street On its 41st anniversary Walker's Funeral Home held an open house and dedicated the chapel in its brick building on North Churton Street, finished late in 1962, honoring founder Houston J. Walker and his late wife Minnie Montgomery Walker. People: Houston J. Walker Place: 204 North Churton Street, Hillsborough · Also named: Allen H. Walker Sr., Minnie Montgomery Walker · Also mentions: Walker's Funeral Home, North Churton StreetSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 28, 1963, p. 12 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 5, 1963, p. 9

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows them all.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Houston J. Walker, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

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Background

  • Our History A short history of the funeral home he founded.

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  • NC LIVE: prepared search for Houston J. Walker Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
  • Ancestry Library Edition In the libraryOrange County Public Library Census, birth, death and marriage records, and more, free on the public computers at OCPL libraries

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