The original site of the library was formerly Emma Baillargeon Stimson's large home, whose purchase was partly funded by the sale of another Capitol Hill property donated in 1934 to the city by two sons of Horace Chapin Henry and Susan J. Henry. Both Henry and Stimson families were early Seattle businesspeople and philanthropists, and Emma Stimson was granddaughter of John Collins, another wealthy businessperson and one of the first mayors of Seattle.[2] A new building designed by NBBJ opened as the Susan J. Henry Branch on August 26, 1954.[3][4][5] The Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (then the Library for the Blind and serving Washington, Montana and Alaska) was housed in the building's basement until 1973.[6][7]