It took a while before I was able to piece together a viable history of the place. I first visited it (and only once so far
August 2007 at OPEX '77) While everyone else was playing a man hunt styled game I was busy capturing the joint as it just sang to me.
Anyways... the History
The German Roman Catholic Orphan Home (GRCOH) has a long and extensive history that weaves itself throughout the city of Buffalo’s own history. This is a brief version of the history of the GRCOH that served so many for nearly a century.
The story begins in 1851 when the city of Buffalo was going through a cholera epidemic. Rev. J. Helmpraecht, pastor of St. Mary’s Church began to minister to the children left fatherless/parentless by the epidemic, often sending them to the Sisters of Notre Dame who taught at the Parish School. However this was not a permanent solution. So in 1852 Father Helmpraecht gathered the men of his parish and formed the Foundation of an Orphanage, to answer the need of the growing number of children left destitute. On September 8th, 1852 the Pine Street location opened under the control of the Sisters of Notre Dame.
As time moved on the number of children in the Pine Street location grew, and due to the location it was deemed the location was no longer suited as a place for children to grow and learn. Pine and Broadway was a heavy commercial sector of Buffalo. The children needed fresh air and room to run and play. So in 1873 a constitution was drawn up and distributed to the parishes of the city, to increase support to purchase and build a new complex for the children of Pine Street. The Dodge Street property was the site of a cemetery, which was purchased from Bishop Stephen Vincent Ryan through the efforts of Rev. E. Schauer, rector of St. Mary’s church for the price of $25,000. The remains were then transferred to a mass grave at Mt. Calvary Cemetery with a single monument.
By October 1st, 1874 the Pine Street orphans were moved to the new location at 564 Dodge Street. The new building was dedicated on June 1st, 1875 and control was given to the Sisters of St. Francis. Since most of the parishes that supported the construction of the new complex the name German Roman Catholic Orphan Home was given.
The operation of the GRCOH was under the guidance of a board of directors which consisted of various ministers of the local parishes listed in the bylaws. These parishes were: St. Mary’s, St. Louis, St. Michael’s, St. Ann’s, St. Mary of Sorrows, St. Francis Xavier, St. Boniface, Sacred Heart, and St. Mary Magdalene. In addition to this various laypersons were recommended and voted in by the pastors. As time moved on the board grew to include those from St. Gerard’s, St. Matthew’s, and St. Agnes’. The members of the board served on various committees to decide upon activities and the needs of the home.
Ash Wednesday, March 5th, 1919 was the day of a disastrous fire for the GRCOH. A board of governors meeting was happening that evening and Sister Superior was in the basement to light up the new cooking class section of the home, when she discovered a fire. Most of the younger children were already in bed, and were not happy when a fire drill was sounded (they had already had one this morning). Smoke and fire made its way up the dumb waiter to the upper floors. At first only the west wing needed to be evacuated but soon after the cross from the tower buried itself in the front lawn the rest of the building was cleared out. Neighbors, local schools, and churches took in as many children as they could. The younger children’s dorms were unharmed by the fire so once it was out they were returned to their beds. The center building bore the brunt of the damage as a result the school rooms were unsuitable for use. So the dorms were converted into classrooms to allow for the learning to continue while the center building was rebuilt. A long told story told at the GRCOH came from this fire. A painting of St. Joesph that once hung in the main lobby of the center building was still there after the fire, unharmed. It was then moved to its final home in the Parlor [Explorer’s Notes: I do not know the fate of the painting in question, but I hope that it was removed before the location was closed and abandoned]. The day after the painting was removed, the wall it hung on in the main hall collapsed. Within six months the buildings damaged or destroyed in the fire was rebuilt with several improvements added.
Plans were then put into the works to build a separate building to house the classrooms, but they didn’t materialize until 1927. With the corner stone laid on July 11th, 1927. The new building had classes for the eight preliminary grades, kindergarten and an ungraded class. The home had nine teaching sisters qualified by the state of New York, with the remaining staff provided by lay teachers from the Board of Education. Also in 1919 plans were made to build a separate chapel, but it wasn’t completed until 1938. The Sacred Heart Chapel was built as an annex to the main building connected by a corridor. This corridor was decorated by the occupants of the home, their work stands as a testament today. A pool and a proper boiler house were completed in 1948.
Another fire in early 1956 did major damage again to the school, sealing the fate of the GRCOH. By summer of that year the school was shut down. Over the course of nearly a century of operation the location was home to over 15,000 children. Currently the former complex, now called the Diocesan Educational Campus (date of the name change is unknown) sits empty on Dodge Street. Most of the buildings remain intact; there is lots of structural damage after half a century of abandonment. The current owners of the property wish to knock the entire location down. It would be a shame to lose such a historical building. However the one thing I’ve learned doing this exploration thing was that I don’t own these buildings, nor should I get attached to them.
Here's some historic photos:
