More Collections & Exhibits
The Walla Walla region's medical heritage is long and rich. Among the earliest practitioners were Dr. Marcus Whitman, Dr. Dorsey Syng Baker, and Dr. Nelson Blalock. Mother Joseph and the Sisters of Providence brought St. Mary's Hospital to the area in the 1870s. The Seventh Day Adventist's contribution to community health began with a sanitarium in College Place in 1899. Fort Walla Walla became the Veterans Bureau Hospital in the 1920s and the US military built McCaw General Hospital in the 1940s.
Much of the legacy remains with the community today, though all that remains on site of McCaw Hospital is its smokestack, visible from Poplar Street in Walla Walla between Avery Street and 13th Avenue. McCaw's chapel and the now-designated 'T' buildings were moved across the street to the grounds of the VA Medical Center. Providence St. Mary Medical Center, Walla Walla General Hospital, and Jonathan M. Wainwright VA Medical Center are all strong elements of the community serving southeast Washington and northeast Oregon. Marcus Whitman's life is commemorated at Whitman Mission National Historic Site; Dr. Baker became a founder of Baker Boyer Bank, and The Blalock Addition remains a part of the community today.
 
Above, top, early Walla Walla resident Dr. Nelson Blalock, image from
W.D. Lyman's History of Walla Walla, p.474.
Above, The late Dr. Richard Simon at the Pioneer Doctor's Cabin
portrayed 'Doc' Blalock in the Living History program.
Dr. Dorsey S. Baker's medical kit, part of the medical collection
in the Museum's repository.
The St. Mary's School of Nursing exhibit.
Walla Walla Sanitarium in College Place, ca. 1907,
the forerunner
of Walla Walla General Hospital.
From the Museum's collection, FWWM # 05.2.5
McCaw Hospital, ca. 1945. From the Museum's collection,
FWWM # RP.96.61.21
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