ST.  JOHN'S HOME  FOR  BOYS

History...
A small group of pioneer Catholics who gathered in a school room adjacent to St. James Church in 1826. The group had come together 
to protect and educate orphan children without burdening the poor. They met for four years before forming itself into the 
Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum Society in the Village of Brooklyn, which was formerly incorporated May 6, 1834, the same 
year Brooklyn became a City.

The first orphan asylum was run by the Sisters of Charity.  It opened on Jay Street in 1828 and housed 13 children. 

A building and land donated on the corner of Clinton and Conger Streets in Brooklyn Heights was next. 
Children were moved to that site in 1841 where the girls were cared for by Sister Constantia and the Sisters of Charity. 

Boys were brought in a building on Clinton Street. The institution became known as St. Paul’s Industrial School. 

Further separation took place in 1857 when the boys were moved to Bedford and Willoughby Avenues under the care of the Franciscan Brothers. 

The later half of the 19th Century saw the society begin to take its present day form. 
St. John’s Home was the name given to the institution for boys opened in 1868 on the site near Albany and Troy Avenues in Brooklyn. 
At its peak, the Sisters of St. Joseph cared for 1,000 boys. 

In 1937, by request of Bishop Thomas Molloy of Brooklyn, the Marianists took over the responsibility for the program from the Sisters of St. Joseph
A new venue was decided to settle on Beach 111th Street in Rockaway Park. 
The Diocese purchased The Hebrew Home for Convalescent Children,a dormitory, a chapel, and a residence area were added. 


At that time, the boys being cared for in St. Malachy’s Home on Beach 112th Street (now the site of Stella Maris High School) were 
transferred to St. John’s.

The move to a newly constructed residence building on Beach 110th Street created room in the former dormitories for the school program, which up to 
that time had been located in a large white frame building near the play field. St. John’s still has an on property school, and a majority of the boys 
participate in that program, although others are placed in various public school programs that are located off property. 



For info: Write to

ST. Johns Residence For Boys
144 Beach 111th St
Rockaway Park, NY 
11694-2592



Ph: 718.945.2800
FAX 718-945-4662 

WEBSITE:
http://stjohnsresidence.org/


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