The story of the first 100 years

A century ago, Walla Walla, Washington, was a bustling commercial hub serving farmers for a 75-mile radius. Wheat was king in the "Valley of Many Waters," and the development of a side-hill harvester in 1891 made it possible–and profitable–to cultivate the gently rolling hillsides.

As more and more acreage was planted the valley's population increased, and in the last two decades of the nineteenth century the town's size doubled to some 10,000 people. Walla Walla's dirt streets were clogged with farm wagons, horse-drawn buggies and hundreds of newly popular bicycles. The first automobile—a steam-powered contraption—chugged down Main Street in 1899.

Medical Treatments Sound Bizarre

Medical treatments of that era seem as outdated today as the horse and buggy. A patient with asthma might be sent to the tobacconist for a cigarette: "smoking is sometimes beneficial" for this condition, reported the authoritative physicians' source of 1899, the first edition of the Merck Manual.

Treatments for tuberculous meningitis—at the time a killing scourge of infancy—included iodine and turpentine massaged into the skin. Alcoholics were advised to suck an orange and drink a pint of hot water before meals–or to take a dose of opium.

But a radically new concept of health care was gaining attention in the United States. In England the word "sanatorium" was applied to a health resort for invalid soldiers. It usually designated a small hospital near the seashore where a healthful climate was part of the cure.

In 1876 a variation of the English term was applied to the first Seventh-day Adventist health care institution, Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan. Within a few years it became a world-renowned health center, under the direction of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg.

Treatment at the sanitarium usually began with a complete physical examination by a trained physician, followed by a variety of treatments. These included relaxation in a beautiful setting, therapeutic water and electric treatments, a simple vegetarian diet, moderate exercise outdoors and trust in a Divine power. Patients often stayed weeks or months to slowly recuperate. If indicated, surgery was available, and Dr. Kellogg was considered one of the finest surgeons in the United States.

Walla Walla Sanitarium Opens

In the fall of 1899 Isaac and Maggie Dunlap returned to the Walla Walla Valley from Battle Creek. Dunlap, business manager at Walla Walla College during its inaugural year, had left to study medicine. His four-year training was concentrated at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, with additional clinical experience in Chicago.

The Dunlaps opened treatment rooms in the basement of the college, and during the first year of operation some 3,000 treatments were given. For the first few years the Walla Walla Sanitarium—which was considered a branch of the Battle Creek Sanitarium—was frequently relocated as it continued to grow. In 1906 it purchased the old College Place public schoolhouse, which had been outgrown.

George Rulaford and his son Cecil moved the one-story structure to the campus of Walla Walla College. Once in its permanent location, the building was hoisted on jacks, and a new floor was added underneath, preserving the original roof line. It was transformed into a graceful two-story sanitarium with wide verandas, reminiscent of the Battle Creek Sanitarium.

Six hundred curious people attended the dedication ceremony of the schoolhouse turned sanitarium on June 3, 1907. Dr. Dunlap served as master of ceremonies, inviting guests to tour the building and drink lemonade on the college lawn.