City Orphan Asylum

The City Orphan Asylum was actually established by Thomas Looby, a private citizen. In 1866, Looby bought a building for an orphanage at the intersection of Washington and Bridge Streets. The home was staffed by the nuns from the Sister of Charity. To meet the growing demand for more beds, a larger brick building was built at 215 Lafayette St. in 1863. By 1914, 75 children and a small number of indigent elderly woman lived there. The home was burned down in the great Salem Fire of 1914. Afterwords, all the children and 60 nuns were brought to live temporarily at St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Mass.