Walter J. Salmon, Sr.

Who was Walter J. Salmon, Sr.?

Walter Joseph Salmon, Sr. was a New York City real estate investor and developer who, according to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, was "responsible for rebuilding the north side of West 42nd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in the first decades of the 20th century". As well, Salmon was a major figure in the business of Thoroughbred horse racing whom The Blood-Horse magazine called "one of the leading breeder/owners of the 20th century."

Born Walter J. Salomon, in his adult years he changed the spelling of his surname to Salmon. On September 3, 1906, he married Elsie A. May. A son, Walter J. Salmon, Jr. was born on June 14, 1907 but twenty-three-year-old Elsie May Salomon died fifteen days later. Walter Salmon then married Elsie's younger sister Lois, who would die on March 1, 1916 at age twenty-eight. Just prior to his marriage to Elizabeth J. Davy of Rochester, New York, in early 1919 Salmon was elected President of the New Symphony Orchestra.