At age 21 Walker moved to Eureka, California, where was in lumbering, and later he was a miner in British Columbia, Idaho and Nevada. He began building and contracting in San Francisco about 1870, specializing in mills for mining companies in both the United States and Mexico. He then moved to Santa Barbara, "where he erected some of the first brick blocks in that town." He also erected the Odd Fellows Hall there, as well as the Sterns Building and private residences. He built the first street railway in Santa Barbara, running from the wharf to the Arlington Hotel. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1897, Walker built the first street railroad in Pasadena and "had the first large contract of paving in Los Angeles.Florence H. Goddard, Los Angeles Public Library reference file, 1937, with sources as noted there He also worked on a street railway in Los Angeles. He built the courthouse and the waterworks in Tombstone, Arizona.Display ad, "Frank Walker,' Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1916, page IV-23"Santa Barbara Items," Los Angeles Herald, May 30, 1875
