The German Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum Photo Gallery by Karl R. Josker at pbase.com

The German Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum

The German RC Orphan Asylum traces its' roots to St. Mary's Church in the mid-1800's. Due to increasing need, a new facility was built in 1874-1875 at 564 Dodge St. Buffalo, from where the following pictures were taken.

The two larger buildings depicted were from an enlargement of the the orphanage in 1887. The original larger structure, with a center tower, burned in 1919. It was rebuilt, and included a kitchen and dining room along with other rooms and connecting corridors.

On the grounds, a separate school building was built in 1927, which still stands. The Sacred Heart Chapel was added in 1938.

In 1956, another fire destroyed the main central building, and the orphanage was closed later in the year.

The complex continued as a preparatory seminary for a few years, eventually evolving into a Diocesan Educational Campus, and subsequently closed. The entire complex was sold to private concerns in the 1990's, and has been vacant and apparently neglected since.

The orphanage housed and cared for over 15,000 children during the course of it's existence.

pages 1 2 ALL

Western Dormitory	Eastern Dormitory	Sacred Heart Chapel	1927 School
Western Dormitory Staircase	Kitchen	Kitchen Skylight	Dining Room Corridor
Collapsed Floor	Interior-Sacred Heart Chapel	Chapel Organ	Rear of Sacred Heart Chapel

pages 1 2 ALL

comment |

Richard		05-Oct-2011 15:24
Any old records available from the 1920s?, besides the 1920 census. Would like to know the parents of a orphan.

Boyks		20-May-2011 15:55
It is quite troubling to hear of the tramas that many of you underwent when this location was an orphanage. My memories of this location are quite the oposite. I had the pleasure of attanding this location when it was Diocesan Educational Campus and my memories of the time I spent there are some of the best memories of my life. The education that I received and some of the friendships that I forged there helped to shape my life. You would be hard pressed to find better teachers than the ones we were blessed with and they had genuine cares and concerns about us and the wellbeing of our families. There was a true sense of family and togetherness. The bonds that were created were so meaningful that the students and teachers that were once lucky enough to be a part of it are getting together in the summer of 2011 to celebrate and reflect upon the great times we once had there. I thank my parents for sending me there and I will never forget the caring and guidance that I received from the entire staff. BB Class of 81'.

marie		25-Mar-2010 15:19
those nuns were child abusers they mentaly and physicaly abused the children there. my two brothers and baby sister were there in the early 50's for 6 monthes while my mother was recovering from a serious leg injury.it was our worst nitemare.they beat kids with leather straps,especialy the bed wetters and over active kids,they robbed the gifts,clothing,and treats your parents and family brought you, and forbid you to see or speak to your siblings.never did they hug or comfort any of the kids they were very inhumane creatures. my father had to take us out of there after he realized how bad it was,which made thier situation very difficult but friends faimly and nieghbors came to the rescue thank god.i know all this is hard to believe but its all true and then some. i believe as time goes on many more horrible stories will surface

jayk		16-Mar-2010 23:14
in 1950, i was at the orphanage for about six months. the nuns were strict, but it wasn't that bad . one night, i had a terrible toothache and kept all the kids up in the dormitory with my crying and moaning. that was bad enough, but the dentist who pulled the tooth was a very mean person and really caused me a lot of pain. i guess he hated kids. he probably worked at some correctional institution. lousy rat!

RScoma		06-Jan-2010 19:50
I lived here from 8/55 until Summer 0f '56, when we were all moved out following the fire that was set by a resident in Jan.6,56. He was angry that he wasn't allowed a home visit. I rember Sr. Charles Vincent who was in charge of the boys group of 8 to 14 y/o I was assigned to. She woke us up each morning screaming and would make a bee line to a group of three kids that were bed wetters and begin screaming and beating them into the showers. She was angry w/ another kid for not cleaning up properly and picked him up and threw him across a bunch of beds. She would shreik when playtex commercials came on TV and fuss until the channel was changed (1955! commercials)and made us stand to attention when Pres. Eisenhower was on TV giving a speech to the country. Would love to know how many of us survived this stuff. I also remember roller skating in the gym and movies on Sunday nites.

joan cray		28-Aug-2009 18:28
Joan, Lived a few blocks away in the 30's and couldn't understand why I couldn't live there because they has all those swings and slides to play on.

billie		05-Dec-2008 00:53
looking for info on an orphan fom around 1930. trying to find info about my husbands father who was a child that lived there.

click on thumbnails for full image