They established St. John's Infirmary (the predecessor of St. Mary's Hospital) and St. Rose's Orphanage for Girls, both on the east side.

[2] In 1877 the Sisters opened the initial St. Vincent's Asylum, with three nuns caring for nine infants in a rented house on the corner of South Fifth and West Virginia Streets.

[2] That winter the land on Greenfield Avenue where the asylum now stands was bought, and Charles Gombert began to design the first section of the building.

It is 3.5 stories, with brick walls sitting on a rusticated limestone foundation, with a mansard roof interrupted by gables and dormers.

Mix followed Gombert's lead and designed a similar, compatible addition with limestone foundation and similar brick, but he added deeper bays with chamfered corners, brick corbels to support the cornice, and a more prominent chimney and dormers.

With Milwaukee's large immigrant population, many unfortunate children had little or no family nearby to care for them.

[2] Starting in 1932, the Catholic Social Welfare Bureau controlled admission to St. Vincent's, as well as placement of older children leaving the asylum.