Doctor Henry Hulme Warburton was one of the first physicians in the Santa Clara Valley. Born in Staffordshire, England in 1819, he emigrated to the United States in 1844. Warburton was a surgeon aboard a whaling ship when it docked in San Francisco in 1847. Like many others, he tried his hand at gold mining, but eventually settled in Santa Clara where he established his medical practice in 1848.

Dr. Warburton opened his office in the 1870s. After his death in 1903 the office was occupied by many other physicians and one dentist, Dr. Thomas Gallup. The building was used as a law office from 1954 to 1964 until urban renewal in downtown Santa Clara threatened to destroy it. In 1966 his office was the first building to be relocated to History Park.

Dr. Warburton’s medical practice extended as far south as San Luis Obispo and around what are now Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Alameda Counties. He was often paid for his services with cattle and horses.