ST. JOSEPH'S ORPHANAGE FOR GIRLS - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

ST. JOSEPH'S ORPHANAGE FOR GIRLS, est. in 1863 and incorporated in 1889, housed Catholic orphans until 1947, when its residents were transferred to PARMADALE CHILDREN'S VILLAGE OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL. St. Joseph's organized officially as a "country location," 6431 Woodland, near E. 60th St., for 12 younger girls from ST. MARY'S ORPHAN ASYLUM FOR FEMALES. The Daughters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a French order, operated St. Joseph's. A chapel was added in 1866; in 1871 the institution had 160 residents. A 3-story addition in 1879 increased the facility's capacity, and by 1881 St. Joseph's and St. Mary's housed a total of 195 children. St. Joseph's served as the home for young orphans under age 8; at age 9, the girls were sent to St. Mary's. However, in 1894 St. Joseph's added another 3-story brick residence, and St. Mary's transferred its girls there.

In the early 1900s St. Joseph's housed about 250 girls. With 42 staff members and a budget of $46,533, in 1923 the orphanage belonged to the Welfare Fed. The number of residents diminished over time, and in Mar. 1944 the 108 girls at St. Joseph's were transferred to the former CUNNINGHAM SANITARIUM. The Cleveland Catholic Diocese had acquired this facility, renaming it St. Joseph's-on-the-Lake. The girls remained there until 1947, when they were moved to Parmadale. St. Joseph's Woodland facility was remodeled and reopened as ST. JOSEPH HOME FOR THE AGED.

Hynes, Michael. History of the Diocese of Cleveland (1953).

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