International Checker Hall of Fame

The International Checker Hall of Fame, which operated from 1979 to 2007, was founded by Charles Walker and located in a Tudor style mansion in Petal, Mississippi and housed a large collection of checkers memorabilia. The hall of fame, which had been home to a statue of checkers-great Marion Tinsley, a checkers library and museum, as well as the two largest checkerboards and host to a number of checker tournaments, was destroyed by fire on September 29 2007.

The Hall of Fame opened in May 1979 and was officially dedicated during the checkers world championship during the same year.Cite web|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-3386392_ITM|title=Where in Mississippi is…Petal?|accessdate=2008-07-07|year=2003-03-01|work=Mississippi Magazine] It provided a tourism boost to the small town of PetalCite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BL&p_theme=bl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F2197CCFA0A441A&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Checkers Hall of Fame Gives a Big Boost to Miss. Town|accessdate=2008-07-07|year=1989-05-14|work=The Pantagraph] and was considered to be the town's biggest claim to fame during its more than twenty years of operation.

Featuring the world's largest checkerboard,cite book | title=Superlatives USA: The Largest, Smallest, Longest, Shortest, and Wackiest| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yALhYMYGY6AC&pg=PA75&dq=%22International+Checker+Hall+of+Fame%22&ei=CyFySJLNJo32sgPD-v2cCg&sig=ACfU3U03pXTdwRdAZvl6bMupbDrEqPo67A| last=Jones| first=Melissa| date=2005| pages=75| publisher=Capital Books| id=ISBN 1931868859] the 35,000 square foot Tudor-style mansion, known as "Chateau Walker" is listed in Ripley's Believe it or Not.Cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AD&p_theme=ad&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4760C67F120AC&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Checkers Champ Wants Someone to Oversee Monument|accessdate=2008-07-07|year=1990-11-07|work=The Advocate] The mansion is designed with a balcony that overlooked the the largest checkerboard,Cite web|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-11869691_ITM|title=New Development Slows while Petal Catches its Breath|accessdate=2008-07-07|year=2005-10-10|work=Mississippi Business Journal] played host to a number of checkers tournaments throughout its existenceCite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AT&p_theme=at&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB7C3ECF47A1850&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Checker Kings get Jump on Crowning Glory at their Hall of Fame|accessdate=2008-07-07|year=1989-07-16|work=The Atlanta Journal Constitution] as well as the World Checker Championship.Cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LH&s_site=kentucky&p_multi=LH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB73A09353F5F40&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Champ Tells How to Get the Jump on Checker Foes|accessdate=2008-07-07|year=1987-09-02|author=Don Edwards|work=Lexington Herald-Leader] The museum also featured a bust of Marion Tinsley, considered to be a checkers great, together with a letter from Tinsley renouncing his championship.cite book | title=One Jump Ahead: Challenging Human Supremacy in Checkers| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=SLvpkTVhsIsC&pg=PA224&dq=%22International+Checker+Hall+of+Fame%22&ei=CyFySJLNJo32sgPD-v2cCg&sig=ACfU3U2aRfKejTxiEyYsjtbjOvI_RIVR2w| last=Schaeffer| first=Jonathan| date=1997| pages=224-225| publisher=Springer| id=ISBN 0387949305] The hall also features a museum with photos of current and former champions, a teaching facility, as well as the world's second largest checkerboard.

Charles Walker's association with the museum ended in January 2005 when he was charged with money laundering.Cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=APAB&d_place=APAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10B5EB013448A0D8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Checkers Hall of Fame Founder Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Charges|accessdate=2008-07-07|year=2005-06-30] Although the museum continued to operate on a limited basis for two more years, the museum and its collection was destroyed by fire in September 2007Cite web|url=http://www.roadsideamerica.com/news/16615|title=Checker Hall of Fame: Game Over|accessdate=2008-07-07|year=2007-10-06|work=Roadside America] and there are currently no plans to re-open. The fire destroyed 20,000 square feet of the museum but there were no injuries.Cite web|url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/oct/08/cause-sought-in-sept-29-fire/|title=Cause Sought in Sept. 29 Fire|accessdate=2008-07-07|publisher=Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group|year=2007-10-08]

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