Extracted from Paterson and Its Environs, Vol. 11, 1920
by Willian Nelson and Charles Shriner

St. Joseph’s Hospital – ca. 1914
St. Joseph’s Hospital was founded by the Sisters of Charity in 1867. The building first occupied by them was on Church street, between Market and Ellison streets. The sisters were heartily welcomed to Paterson, as the city stood in sad need of a place where the indigent sick could be properly taken care of. St. John’s Catholic congregation contributed $400 in cash and contributions of cash flowed in from a number of sources, prominent among the contributors being the societies attached to St. John’s Church. The women also took an interest in the project and organized a society each of the members of which agreed to contribute $1.00 per month towards the support of the hospital. The contributions amounted in all $2,566.15. The quarters occupied by the Sisters soon proved too small and were also open to the objection of being in the centre of the city, with no grounds surrounding. In 1869 the residence of Mr. A. A. Fonda on Main street, near the Newark railroad crossing, was purchased together with the nine acres of land surrounding. Two years later the Sisters saw themselves compelled to add a wing, for the purpose of supplying the demands of the institution and providing for laundry, bakery and boiler house, the latter being deemed necessary in order to heat the building with steam. The cost of the building and ground, together with the improvements made, amounted to $98,000, of which sum $52,000 remained a lien on the property. With this load of indebtedness the Sisters entered in the era in the history of this country generally referred to as “the hard times.” It was only by the exercise of the most rigid economy and the most strenuous endeavors that they succeeded not only in caring for the sick in their charge but also in looking after the alleviation of the distress consequent on the stringency of the times and the closing of most of the industrial establishments in the city. For the purpose of affording employment to a few, the Sisters started an industrial school.
A visitation of smallpox in 1883 called attention to the fact that the city of Paterson had no isolated building for the treatment of contagious diseases. On the grounds owned by the Sisters, far removed from any of the main hospital buildings, stood a frame structure, the gift of Rev. Dean McNulty, which had been used as a school. This was turned into a ward for the treatment of contagious diseases. In 1885 another wing was erected at a cost of $20,000 but the demands on the hospital soon exceeded the accommodations. In 1907 the Sisters began making arrangements for the erection of what became the main building of the hospital. The two buildings already occupied, with such additions as were made from time to time, were of wood. It was now determined to erect a building of stone and brick. Ground was broken in 1909 and the building was opened in 1912, the cost being $125,0-00. A great deal of the success attained by the hospital was due to the ability and unremitting energy of a woman, who for many years directed the efforts of the Sisters, Sister Mary Clare. She was born in Newark, December 18, 1844, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Reilley. Her first application to be admitted to the educational institution of the Sister of Charity at Madison, was rejected on account of her youth. She was admitted to the novitiate on June 29, 1865, and came to the Paterson hospital on August 11, 1869, and there, after a life devoted to the care of the sick, she died on April 26, 1919.
The record of patients treated in the hospital is as follows:
1868 – 102
1869 – 140
1870 – 227
1871 – 325
1871 – 417
1873 – 380
1874-no rec’d
1875 – 274
1876 – 264
1877 – 291
1878 – 369
1879 – 411
1880 – 603
1881 – 711
1882 – 727
1883 – 577
1884 – 541
1885 – 505
1886 – 594
1887 – 825
1888 – 608
1889 – 756
1890 – 746
1891 – 845
1892 – 875
1893 – 883
1894 – 990
1895 – 1203
1896 – 1395
1897 – 1587
1898 – 1594
1899 – 1657
1900 – 1980
1901 – 1923
1902 – 1975
1903 – 2306
1904 – 2356
1905 – 1468
1906 – 1631
1907 – 1677
1908 – 1502
1909 – 1577
1910 – 2003
1911 – 2137
1912 – 2313
1913 – 2508
1914 – 2618
1915 – 3092
1916 – 3535
1917 – 3619
1918 – 3824