ST. MARY'S ORPHAN ASYLUM FOR FEMALES admitted its first child on Christmas Day, 1851, and sheltered homeless girls for 43 years. Bp. AMADEUS RAPPE founded the home, staffed by the Daughters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, from France. Originally located on St. Clair at E. 6th, in 1853 the home moved its 26 orphans to Harmon (E. 20th) St. where they received a basic education and domestic training. In 1863 the younger girls were placed in "the country," at ST. JOSEPH'S ORPHANAGE.
St. Mary's on Harmon St. was a 3-story brick structure accommodating 150 girls ages 9-16. It was supported by general collections, fairs, donations, and earnings of the older girls. In 1894 the girls from St. Mary's moved to the enlarged St. Joseph's Orphanage. The following year the sisters opened St. Mary's Boarding Home for Young Women in the same location, providing temporary shelter for women seeking employment. It closed in 1926.
Archives, Diocese of Cleveland.
Houck, George F. A History of Catholicity in Northern Ohio and the Diocese of Cleveland (1903).
Hynes, Michael. History of the Diocese of Cleveland (1953).