The Maple Leaf Community Council nominated Waldo Hospital as a Seattle Historic Site and worked to preserve both the buildings and the grounds that are so integral with the character of the site. For more information on their efforts, visit them at their web site. You can access a copy of the Landmark Nomination by clicking here (warning, large PDF file).

The Maple Leaf Community secured a unanimous vote from the Seattle Landmark Board to nominate Waldo Hospital (the site and grounds) as a historic site despite a recommendation for designation in the Landmark Preservation Staff Report. On June 20, the Landmark Board declined to designate the site for Landmark Status. The meeting was improperly run by the Landmark Preservation Board. Two members who voted for the nomination were replaced the day before the meeting by two new people who voted against the nomination.

Waldo Hospital was built in 1924 and became a non-profit in 1937, beginning 80 years of continuous use as a significant public amenity enjoyed by Seattle citizens. 

Envisioned, built, and managed by Dr. William Earl Waldo, Waldo General Hospital served the health care needs of the city and north Seattle residents for more than 40 years.  Dr. Waldo was a very significant figure, both locally and nationally. He was president of the King County Osteopathic Association from 1911 to 1913 and. In 1913, he was elected a trustee of the national American Osteopathic Association to serve a three-year term. Dr. Waldo also served as president of the Seattle Rotary Club, and was a member of Nile Temple, Elks, the Earlington Gold Club, the Metropolitan Lumberman’s Club, and the Municipal League. He was the team physician to the Seattle Indians Baseball Club, the University of Washington football team, and provided free healthcare to student athletes at Queen Anne, West Seattle and Broadway high schools.

Waldo Hospital is located in Seattle's Maple Leaf Neighborhood. Maple Leaf was a US Neighborhood of the year in the late 1980s and is widely recognized in Seattle and King County as one of the most politically active and connected neighborhoods in the city.

Primary research at the offices of the American Osteopathic Society in Chicago, IL revealed Dr. Waldo played a primary role in the transition of osteopathy from its founding in the late 1800s to the robust and growing area of medicine it is today. Dr. Waldo's role has been forgotten or ignored by historians who, if they cannot find it in a Google search, apparently believe it does not exist. At the Landmark Preservation hearing, volunteer researchers from the Maple Leaf Community embarrassed Camp Fire's $65,000 "historical experts", who were left to arguing not the facts presented but why they were smarter than the volunteer researchers because they had advanced degrees and had published books on the subject.

Community volunteers are compiling all the research and hope to publish the real, factual story of Dr. Waldo's contribution to osteopathy in the future.

Click here to view a map of where Waldo Hospital is located within the Maple Leaf community (depending on your browser, you can click on the map to magnify it).

Waldo Hospital then

Dr. Waldo and one of his trees

Waldo Hospital and SE Maple Leaf from the reservoir tower

Waldo Hospital now

A pair of Bald Eagles visits Waldo's Forest
Click on the pictures to see larger versions.