Three Sisters of Providence arrived in Seattle from Vancouver, Washington in May 1877 to manage the King County Poor Farm on the Duwamish River. In May 1878, the sisters purchased and remodeled a house at Fifth Avenue and Madison, and established the first Providence Hospital. The group built a second, larger hospital in several phases, beginning in 1882.

This photo, taken around 1904, shows Providence Hospital's second building, on Fifth Avenue between Madison and Spring Streets. This site, just uphill from the Public Library, is now occupied by the United States District Court. The old wooden hospital building was demolished in 1914, after Providence Hospital moved to its current location at 17th Avenue and Jefferson Street. The large building in the right background is Seattle's Central School.

Handwritten on sleeve: Old Providence Hospital, 5th & Madison, 1911.
Photographer's Reference Number: 2027