The Capitol Hill Branch, The Seattle Public Library, opened at 425 Harvard Avenue E on May 31, 2003. The site was formerly home to the Susan J. Henry Branch, The Seattle Public Library. The Henry Branch served the Capitol Hill community from 1954 until November 2001, when it was demolished to make way for the new facility. Library services in the Capitol Hill neighborhood have developed over nearly a century from a tiny deposit station in the Mission Pharmacy to the $5.7 million Capitol Hill Branch. The Capitol Hill Branch was funded by the $196.4 million "Libraries For All" bond issue approved by Seattle voters in 1998. "Libraries For All" provided for replacement or renovation of existing branches, several new branches, and a new main library.
Horace C. Henry (1844-1928) and his wife Susan J. Henry (1854-1921) were great philanthropists in the first decades of the twentieth century. Among other gifts, they provided land north of Seattle where the Anti-tuberculosis League of King County built a municipal sanatorium, and gave close to a half-million dollars worth of art to the University of Washington. In 1934, their sons, Langdon C. Henry and Paul M. Henry donated to the library the old Henry home at 1117 Harvard Avenue N (now E) and 12 lots at the northwest corner of Harvard Avenue N and Prospect Street in an area of the neighborhood dominated by stately homes and mansions. The gift was named for their mother. This property was later sold to pay for property more central to the Capitol Hill business district.
In 1933, the Great Depression and chronic lack of city funds had caused the shutdown of the Mission Pharmacy deposit station (at 901 19th Avenue), which had served the area since 1913. The Henry family had intended their gift to be utilized immediately, but the library board lacked funds to modify the home for library use. In 1944, another deposit station opened at Pilgrim Congregational Church at 509 10th Avenue E. It operated until 1954. Construction of a permanent Capitol Hill branch was included in 1950 and 1952 bond issues, but voters rejected both proposals. (The Aloha Branch, housed in a former storefront at 1911 E Aloha, operated from 1948 to 1961).
Just before the former Baillargeon house was torn down, Emma Baillargeon Stimson requested, and was allowed to have removed, some of the wall paneling from the first floor area. A small sample of this now (2009) is displayed in the Capitol Hill Branch, along with information on the history of the site and branch.
Architects Naramore, Bain, Brady, and Johanson (NBBJ) designed the building at 425 Harvard Avenue E, and it opened on January 20, 1954. In addition to a neighborhood library, the building's lower level served for many years as a home for Seattle's Library for the Blind and as a base for the Bookmobile program. The Bookmobiles moved out in 1957. The Library for the Blind got a new home in 1973 and later became the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library.
In 1998, Seattle voters approved the $196.4 million "Libraries For All" bond issue, which provided for replacement or renovation of existing branches, several new branches, and a new main library. The Library Board considered several proposals for siting the Capitol Hill Branch and decided to stick with the site of the existing branch.
The Henry Branch lent its last book on November 3, 2001, and the existing building was demolished. The renamed Capitol Hill Branch opened on May 31, 2003. (On February 23, 1999, the Library Board adopted a policy limiting the use of personal names to areas within libraries, rather than to libraries themselves. This policy impacted all new, rebuilt, or relocated branches. With the exception of the Douglass-Truth Branch and the Madrona-Sally Goldmark Branch, The Seattle Public Library's branch names indicate the neighborhoods in which they are built). The 11,215-square-foot building was designed by Johnston Architects and Cutler Architects. The new building is more than twice the size of the old one and can hold 40,000 books. It features large windows with wide window seats, community meeting rooms, and a large central reading room under a soaring ceiling with skylights, and a glass book tower.
Branch Librarians
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Edith Cleaves, 1954-1960
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Phoebe Harris, 1961-1962
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Chloe Sivertz, 1963-1965
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Ching-yen Hsiao, 1966-1967
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Ryo Tsai, 1968-1977
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Regional Management, 1977-1990
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Rae Charlton, 1990-2006
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Brian Bannon, 2003-2006
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Nancy Slote, 2006-present
