Soon after it was completed at the southeast corner of Terry Avenue and Madison Street, the King County Blood Bank was listed by the Encyclopedia Britannica in 1948 as one of the "important" new buildings world-wide. After several expansions the post-war structure was replaced in the mid-1980s. Both views look south across Madison Street.

PAUL DORPAT

The modern style of the King County Central Blood Bank suggests that William Bain, perhaps the most modern among the partners, may have had the greatest hand in designing it. The First Hill lots at the southwest corner of Terry Avenue and Madison were donated by Dr. Maimon Samuels and the more than $200,000 needed to build the blood bank was raised through gifts in a quick campaign led by Emil G. Sick, owner in 1946 of Rainier Beer and the Seattle Rainiers baseball club. The structure was considered ingenious enough to rank among the "Important Buildings" worldwide in the Encyclopedia Britannica's 1948 Book of the Year.

The blood bank got its start in 1944 and used temporary quarters in the King County Hospital (aka Harborview) until its new home was completed. Following its first enlargement in 1950, the original building was expanded four more times until it was replaced in 1985. By then the county service had expanded to cover the region, and its new name, the Puget Sound Blood Center and Program, reflected the increased service.

The programs of the blood bank have always been nonprofit; already in 1946 its volunteers numbered nearly 200. Among its many research contributions are perfecting methods for making and storing platelets, as well as lengthening the storage life of blood.

Paul Dorpat's two-hour videotape on Seattle's early history, "Seattle Chronicle," is $29.95 from Tartu Publications, P.O. Box 85208, Seattle, WA 98145.