St. Joseph's German Orphan Asylum
Dates:
Established - 1849
Closed - 1938
Locations:
1st site - Fourteenth Street and Liberty Avenue - St. Philomena's Church
2nd site - Troy Hill Road (Allegheny City - 1853) (Burned in 1854)
3rd site - temporary shelter
4th site - Troy Hill location
Also Known As:
St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum
German Roman Catholic St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum of Allegheny County
Founder:
School Sisters of Notre Dame
Sponsoring Agency:
Men's Conference of St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum
Notes:
Twenty-four orphans entered the new orphanage in 1853; it burned in 1854.
New building was built on the same site; an addition was added in 1870.
Mortuary Chapel and cemetery adjoined the asylum.
Half orphans outnumbered those deprived of both parents.
A German newspaper, Der Republikaner, was published for the benefit of the asylum and as a source on income.
Now North Catholic High School which opened in 1939.
Location of Records:
Archives and Records Center, Diocese of Pittsburgh, 125 N. Craig Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 ; 412-621-6217
Sources:
PA Department Vertical Files (Orphanages)
Pittsburgh Photographic Library (1)
1895 Greater Pittsburg Handbook
1937 Directory of Social Agencies
1940 Directory of Social Agencies
Catholic Pittsburgh's One Hundred Years , pp. 34 and 112