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Rediscovering Jewish Infrastructure: 2022 Update on United States Eighteenth and Nineteenth-Century Synagogues

November 4, 2021
by Mark W. Gordon

This article – the third in a series – will document buildings which were originally erected as synagogues in the United States in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and are still standing today.  Calling attention to these structures focuses on the importance of maintaining and preserving them, either as houses of worship or alternative uses.

Figure 1. Jeshuat Israel’s Touro Synagogue of Newport, RI.

The first article in this series appeared in American Jewish History in March 1986 (Vol. 75, No. 3). It identified for the first time fifty-two (52) extant eighteenth- and nineteenth-century synagogue buildings in the United States. I located many of these structures by searching downtown districts throughout the country. Touring former Jewish neighborhoods sometimes led to the sudden and exciting discovery of a former synagogue. Architectural styles, along with remnants of Judaic ornamentation (Stars of David, tablets, Hebrew cornerstones, etc.), assisted in identifying and dating the building.

Through additional urban exploring, research and input from American Jewish History readers around the country, the second article in this series, published in the March 1996 American Jewish History (Vol. 84, No. 1) enumerated ninety-six (96) extant purpose-built US eighteenth- and nineteenth-century synagogue structures including the fifty-two (52) noted above.

Architects, historians, urban planners and community members have used this information for a variety of purposes.  For example, many Jewish congregations are proud to worship in the oldest extant synagogues in the country.  By 2018, at least thirty separate Wikipedia entries footnote the March 1996 American Jewish History article, including individual entries for such well-known structures as Touro Synagogue (Newport – fig. 1), Plum Street Synagogue (Cincinnati) and Central Synagogue (NYC).

As of today, the total number of all known pre-1900 synagogue buildings is ninety-seven (97).  This includes thirteen additional synagogues discovered since 1996, offset by twelve subtractions from demolitions and other factors described below.  Each entry in Table 1 includes the address of the structure, its architectural style, the name of the original congregation, whether the original congregation still uses its building, and if not, the current use.  You may access Table 1 below.

Table 1: Pre-1900 Buildings Erected as Synagogues and Still Standing

DATE CITY & ADDRESS STATE ORIGINAL CONGREGATION CURRENT USE ARCHITECTURE
1759-63 NEWPORT
85 Touro St. 
RI Jeshuat Israel (O)
(Touro Synagogue)
Same Georgian
1840-41 CHARLESTON
86-90 Hasell St.
SC K.K. Beth Elohim (R) Same Greek Revival
1845 BALTIMORE
11 Lloyd St.
MD Baltimore Hebrew Cong. (R)
(Lloyd Street Synagogue)
Museum Greek Revival
1849-50 NEW YORK CITY
172 Norfolk St.
NY Anshe Chesed (R)
(Angel Orensanz Center)
Event venue,
holiday services
Gothic
1853 NEW YORK CITY
8 Clinton St.
NY Rodeph Sholom (R) Chasam Sopher (O) Romanesque
1856 HONESDALE
7th & Court Sts.
PA Beth Israel (R) Same Greek Revival
1860 CINCINNATI
Ruth Lyons Lane
OH Sherith Israel (O) Condos Vernacular
1860-65 NEW ORLEANS
709 Jackson Ave.
LA Shaarei Tefiloh (R) Condos Eclectic
1863 MADISON
Gorham & Butler Sts.*
WI Shaarai Shomayim (R) Community center Romanesque
1865-66 CINCINNATI
8th & Plum Sts.
OH K.K. B’nai Yeshurun (R)
(Isaac M. Wise Temple)
(Plum Street Synagogue)
Same Moorish Gothic
1865-67 CUMBERLAND
107 Union St.
MD B’er Chayim (R) Same Greek Revival
1867 LAFAYETTE
17 S. 7th St.
IN Temple Israel (R) Church, social services Romanesque
c. 1868 HUDSON
530 Columbia St.
NY Ohav Sholem (disbanded) House Eclectic
1869 AUGUSTA
525 Telfair St.
GA B’nai Israel (R) Museum Greek Revival
1869-70 QUINCY
427 N. 9th St.
IL B’nai Sholom (R) Closed in 2019 Moorish
1870 GALVESTON
816 22nd St.
TX B’nai Israel (R)
Re-built c.1890
Masonic temple Moorish Gothic
1870 TROY
167 3rd St.
NY Temple Berith Sholom (R) Same Romanesque
1870-72 NEW YORK CITY
123 E. 55th St.
NY Ahavath Chesed (R)
(Central Synagogue)
Same Moorish
1872 DONALDSONVILLE
301 Railroad Ave.
LA Bikur Cholim (disbanded) Hardware store Vernacular
1875-76 HARTFORD
21 Charter Oak Ave.
CT Temple Beth Israel (R)
(Charter Oak Cultural Ctr.)
Cultural center Eclectic
1875-76 WILMINGTON
1 S. 4th St.
NC Temple of Israel (R) Same Moorish
1876 BALTIMORE
27-35 Lloyd St.
MD Chizuk Amuno (C) B’nai Israel (O);
museum
Victorian Gothic/
eclectic
1876 BROOKLYN
274 Keap St.
NY Beth Elohim (R) Hebrew school Victorian Gothic
1876 WASHINGTON
3rd and F
DC Adas Israel (C) Completed second move Romanesque
1876-78 SAVANNAH
20 Gordon St.
GA Mickve Israel (R) Same Gothic
1877 OWENSBORO
429 Daviess St.
KY Temple Adath Israel (R) Same Moorish Gothic
1881 GRAND RAPIDS
72 Ransom Ave. NE
MI Temple Emanuel (R) Anti-abortion organization Vernacular as modified
1882 BROWNSVILLE
171 N. Washington Ave.
TN Adas Israel (R) Occasional use Gothic
1882 CHARLOTTESVILLE
301 E. Jefferson St.*
VA Beth Israel (R) Same Victorian Gothic
1882 DENVER
24th & Curtis Sts.
CO Temple Emanuel (R) Incubator offices Victorian
1883 HOBOKEN
637 Garden St.
NJ Adas Emuno (R) Church Gothic/Romanesque
1883 JEFFERSON CITY
318 Monroe St.
MO Temple Beth El (R) Same Gothic
1883-84 APPLETON
320 N. Durkee St.
WI Temple Zion (disbanded) Organ shop Victorian Gothic
1884 NEWARK
32 Prince St.
NJ Oheb Shalom (C)
(Prince Street Synagogue)
Environmental
center
Moorish
1884 LEADVILLE
201 W. 4th St.
CO Temple Israel (disbanded) Museum Victorian Gothic
1884-85 BOSTON
Columbus & Northampton
MA Temple Israel (R) Church Victorian Romanesque
1885 BURLINGTON
168 Archibald St.
VT Ohavi Zedek (C) Ahavath Gerim (O) Gothic
1885-86 TRAVERSE CITY
311 Beth El Way
MI Beth El (R) Beth Shalom Vernacular
1886 GOLDSBORO
314 N. James St.
NC Oheb Sholom (R) Closed; food pantry in rear Romanesque
1886 PHILADELPHIA
7th St. & C.B. Moore Ave.
PA Adath Jeshurun (C) Church Moorish
1886 ROCHESTER
30 Leopold St.
NY Beth Israel (C)
(Leopold Street Shul)
Black Hebrew cong. Romanesque/eclectic
1886-87 NEW YORK CITY
12 Eldridge St.
NY Khal Adas Jeshurun (O)
(Eldridge St. Synagogue)
Same, museum Moorish
1887-89 ALBANY
Lancaster & S. Swan Sts.
NY Temple Beth Emeth (R) Church Richardsonian
Romanesque
1888 OCALA
729 NE 2nd St.
FL United Hebrews of Ocala (R) Church Eclectic
1888 SAN LEANDRO
642 Dolores Ave.*
CA Temple Beth Sholom (C) Same Vernacular
1888-89 TRINIDAD
407 S. Maple St.
CO Congregation Aaron (R) Occasional Use Moorish/eclectic
1889 LAFAYETTE
603 Lee Ave.
LA Rodeph Shalom (R) Same Vernacular as modified
1889 ALLIANCE
Gershel & Schiff Aves.
NJ Tifereth Israel (disbanded)
(Sharis Israel)
Occasional use Vernacular
1889 BLOOMINGTON
315 N. Prairie St.
IL Moses Montefiore Temple (R) Residence Moorish
1889 LIGONIER
503 S. Main St.
IN Ahavas Sholom (disbanded) Residence Victorian Gothic
1889 SAN DIEGO
Juan & Harney Sts.*
CA Temple Beth Israel (R) Community center; museum Romanesque/eclectic
1889-90 NEW YORK CITY
163 E. 67th St.
NY Zichron Ephraim (O)
(Park East Synagogue)
Same Moorish
1889-90 BRUNSWICK
1326 Egmont St.
GA Beth Tefilloh (R) Same Moorish
1890-91 NEWBURGH
119 South St.
NY Temple Beth Jacob (R) Church Eclectic
1890-91 BALTIMORE
1914 Madison Ave.
MD Baltimore Hebrew Cong. (R) Church Eclectic
1890-91 CHICAGO
3301 S. Indiana Ave.
IL Kehilath Anshe Ma’ariv (R) only exterior walls remain Future gospel music museum Chicago School
1890-91 SALT LAKE CITY
249 S. Fourth East
UT B’nai Israel (C/R) Interior design office Romanesque
1890-91 HELENA
515 N. Ewing St.
MT Temple Emanu-El
(disbanded)
Diocese office Moorish/eclectic
1891 STATEN ISLAND
199 Victory Blvd.
NY B’nai Jeshurun (C) Church Eclectic
1891-92 HENDERSON
Center & N. Alves Sts.
KY Adas Israel (disbanded) Church Victorian
1891-92 PORT GIBSON
706 Church St.
MS Temple Gemiluth Chassed (R) Museum Moorish/eclectic
1891-92 STATESVILLE
206 N. Kelly St.
NC Emanuel (C) Same Romanesque
1891-92 SCHENECTADY
18 N. College St.
NY Shaarai Shamayim (R) Church Romanesque/eclectic
1892 KINGSTON
50 Abeel St.
NY Temple Emanu-El (R) Apartments Romanesque/eclectic
1892-93 BALTIMORE
1307 Eutaw Pl.
MD Oheb Shalom (R) Masonic temple Byzantine/eclectic
1893 ANNISTON
1301 Quintard Ave.
AL Temple Beth-El (R) Same Eclectic
1893 BRENHAM
Austin JCC campus *
TX B’nai Abraham (O)
moved to Austin in 2014-15
Tiferet Israel (O) Gothic/vernacular
1893-94 CLEVELAND
E. 55th & Central Sts.
OH Tifereth Israel (R) Church Richardsonian Romanesque
1894 CENTERVILLE
E. Terry & S. 15th Sts.
IA B’nai Israel (disbanded) Church Gothic/vernacular
1894 NEW YORK CITY
160 W. 82nd St.
NY Shaaray Tefila (R) Church Moorish/eclectic
1894 ALLENTOWN
625 N. 2nd St.
PA Agudas Achim (O) Vacant Gothic/vernacular
1895 BALTIMORE
1501 McCulloh St.
MD Chizuk Amuno (C) Church Classical/Romanesque
1895 SAN FRANCISCO
1881 Bush St.
CA Ohabai Shalome (disbanded)
(Bush Street Temple)
Assisted Living Eclectic
1895 BROOKLYN
98 Scholes St.
NY Ahavath Scholom Church Romanesque
1895-96 BOISE
11 N. Latah St.*
ID Ahavath Beth Israel (R)
moved in 2003
Same Romanesque/Moorish
1895-96 LANCASTER
508 N. Duke St.
PA Shaarai Shomayim (R) Same Classical/eclectic
1896 BROOKHAVEN
Chickasaw & S. Church
MS B’nai Shalom Museum Eclectic
1896 WOODBINE
614 Washington Ave.
NJ Woodbine Brotherhood
(disbanded)
Museum Vernacular
1896 ALTOONA
1433 13th Ave.
PA Mountain City Hebrew
Reform Cong. (R)
Church Moorish
1896-97 NEW HAVEN
Orange & Audubon Sts.
CT Mishkan Israel (R) Arts center Eclectic
1896-97 NEW YORK CITY
8 W. 70th St.
NY Shearith Israel (O)
(Spanish & Portuguese)
Same Classical
1897 PEEKSKILL
813 Main St.
NY First Hebrew Cong. (C, O) Mosque Gothic
1897-98 WASHINGTON
8th & I Sts., N.W.
DC Washington Hebrew Cong. (R) Church Romanesque/eclectic
1898 CHICAGO
44th St. & St. Lawrence
IL Temple Israel (R) Church Classical
1898 PEORIA
521 N.E. Monroe St.
IL Anshai Emeth (R) Church Gothic/eclectic
c. 1898 ROSENHAYN
600 Garton Road
NJ Or Yisrael Cong. (disbanded) Unused Vernacular
1898-99 CHICAGO
45th St. & Vincennes Ave.
IL Temple Isaiah (R) Church Classical
1898-99 HUNTSVILLE
103 Lincoln St., S.E.
AL B’nai Sholom (R) Same Eclectic
1898-99 DENVER
1595 Pearl St.
CO Temple Emanuel (R) Church Moorish/eclectic
1898-1900 SAG HARBOR
Elizabeth St. & Atlantic Ave.
NY Temple Mishcan Israel (C) Temple Adas
Israel (R)
Vernacular
1899 BAY CITY
200 N. Van Buren St.
MI Shaarey Zedek (C) Church Classical
1899-1900 DANVILLE
127 Sutherlin Ave.
VA Temple Beth Sholom (R) Same Eclectic
1899-1900 SELMA
503 Broad St.
AL Mishkan Israel (R) Occasional use; future museum Romanesque/eclectic
1899-1900 CORSICANA
208 S. 15th St.
TX Temple Beth-El (C) Community center, minyanim Moorish
1900 NEW YORK CITY
23 W. 118th St.
NY Shaare Zedek (C) Church Moorish
1900 PUEBLO
1325 No. Grand Ave.
CO Temple Emanuel (R) Same Queen Anne
c. 1900 NORMA
Almond Rd. & Wallace St.
NJ Ahavas Achim (O)
(Norma Brotherhood)
Occasional use Vernacular

The dates for each entry generally signify the date of cornerstone and the date of dedication of the original synagogue. Asterisks (*) indicate buildings which have been physically moved to their current location. (O), (C), and (R) stand for Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform; they illustrate the present-day affiliation of the original congregation or its successor through merger. “Same” indicates that the original congregation still uses the building for worship services. With the exception of “Greek Revival”, architectural styles such as Romanesque Revival and Moorish Revival are abbreviated above by omitting the word “Revival”. Buildings which have been totally rebuilt and are no longer recognizable as former places of worship are not included.

The ninety-seven (97) extant synagogues are located in thirty-one states and the District of Columbia.  Twenty are in New York State, with eleven of these in New York City.  Three states (IL, MD and NJ) have six each, with five in Colorado and Pennsylvania and four or less in the other states.

What Has Changed Since 1996

Figure 2. Temple Israel in Leadville, CO.

Additions:  Since 1996, the author has discovered thirteen additional extant pre-1900 synagogue buildings.  These include structures in Cincinnati (Sherith Israel); New Orleans; Hudson, NY; Lafayette, Augusta, GA; LA; Ocala, FL; Brunswick, GA; Schenectady, NY; Allentown, PA; Centerville, IA; Brooklyn (Ahavath Scholom); Altoona, PA; and Peekskill, NY.

Subtractions:  Unfortunately, the additions were offset by twelve subtractions.  These include discovery of seven demolitions:  Easton, PA (demolished in 2003 after fire damage); Cincinnati (K.K. Bene Israel); Placerville, CA; New York City (Or Zarua demolished by its Jewish congregation in 1999); Atlantic City (demolished by the city in 2013); Chicago (Anshe Emeth on Sedgwick St.); and Charleston, WV.  Some of the demolitions were verified by Google Street View aerial maps, a welcome update in technology.

Other reasons for subtractions include the discoveries that:  1) The Las Vegas, NM synagogue and New York City’s Forsyth St. Synagogue were originally purpose built as churches; 2) Ahavath Sholom in Buffalo was actually constructed in 1901-03 (after the 1900 cut-off); 3) The synagogue in Demopolis, AL was newly built in the 1950s inside a much larger 1893 synagogue which was subsequently demolished; and 4) The synagogue in Alpena, Michigan started out as a residence that was moved to the site and remodeled into a synagogue.

Other Updates:  Temple Israel in Leadville, CO (fig. 2) was restored in 2008 to its original appearance by replacing decorative elements previously removed while used as apartments.  Kehilath Anshe Ma’ariv on Chicago’s South Side suffered significant damage from a building fire in 2006.  Only the exterior walls remain of this Chicago School synagogue designed by prominent architects Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan.

Additionally, information on synagogue dates of construction, names and addresses was revised in 2018 and is updated annually as appropriate.

Physical Relocation of Synagogue Buildings

Over the years, synagogues in Madison, WI; Washington, DC; Charlottesville, VA (fig. 3); San Leandro, CA; and San Diego, CA, have been physically moved in order to save them from the wrecking ball.  More recently, Temple Beth Israel in Boise, ID was moved in 2003 adjacent to the congregation’s newer building, and B’nai Abraham in Brenham, TX was moved across several counties to the Austin JCC campus in 2014-15.1

Worship and Adaptive Reuse

Figure 3. Beth Israel in Charlottesville, VA.

While many of the buildings originally constructed as synagogues are now used for other purposes, some remain as Jewish houses of worship. In over twenty different states, one or more nineteenth-century buildings are still utilized for Jewish services, as Table 1 indicates. 

Adaptive reuse of a historic building is defined as implementing a new and/or additional use for a building originally designed for another purpose. Structures such as fire houses, train stations, courthouses, and religious edifices often find new uses. Nineteenth-century synagogues are no exception. For these buildings, the most popular reuse is as a house of worship for another religion. Other successful adaptive reuses of synagogue buildings include offices, museums, community/cultural centers, performing arts centers, and schools. Unusual uses in 2018 include offices for the Catholic Diocese of Helena, MT and those for an anti-abortion group in Grand Rapids, MI. As a building’s use is changed, the new owner can renovate it in such a way to preserve the structure’s major architectural features. Reuse of a historic synagogue no longer needed by its original congregation is much preferable to demolition.

Some congregations may look to the Talmud for guidance when vacating a synagogue.  Mishnah Megillah 3:1 directs that congregations which sell a synagogue use the proceeds for an equivalent or holier purpose.  Based on interpretations of this text, an Orthodox congregation may place restrictions on a buyer’s future use of its house of worship.  For example, when the Jewish Historical Society of Maryland purchased Baltimore’s Lloyd Street Synagogue in 1963, it accepted a deed restriction that the building would not be used on Shabbat or Jewish festivals.2

Preservation Movement

An exciting development intensifying during the past twenty-five years has been various grassroots efforts to save synagogues threatened with demolition. Synagogues that have been saved from pending demolition include those in Baltimore, Corsicana, TX; Denver (fig. 4); Hartford; Newark, NJ (fig. 5); New York City; and Port Gibson, MS.

Awareness of these successful grassroots efforts to save nineteenth-century synagogues will hopefully spur other communities to mount similar efforts when historic Jewish infrastructure is threatened. Many of the buildings reflect architectural beauty and craftsmanship that would never be created today. Some of them provide a special historical element to a municipality’s original core downtown.

Figure 4. Temple Emanuel of Denver.

Figure 5. Oheb Shalom in Newark, NJ.

Architectural Styles

Table 1 includes the architectural styles for each synagogue entry.  Often following trends in secular and ecclesiastical architecture, the look of US synagogues evolved over the decades of the nineteenth century.

The Touro Synagogue, the only extant eighteenth century entry, was designed in the Georgian style by noted colonial architect Peter Harrison. Both Beth Elohim (Charleston, SC) and the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation were constructed in the Greek Revival style, popular for houses of worship in the 1840s and early 1850s. Beth Israel in Honesdale, PA (fig. 6) is an example of this style.  Romanesque Revival synagogues with round-arched windows became evident for several decades beginning in the 1850s as seen in Goldsboro, NC (fig. 7) and Salt Lake City (fig. 8),  Gothic Revival and Victorian styles, like those illustrated in Leadville, CO (fig. 2) and Charlottesville, VA (fig. 3), became more common beginning in the 1870s and 1880s. (A sub-style of Romanesque Revival architecture is Rundbogenstil originating in Germany. Nineteenth-century synagogues in Boise, ID; Lafayette, IN; and Madison, WI are examples of this sub-style.)

Figure 6. Beth Israel in Honesdale, PA.
Oheb Sholom of Goldsboro, NC.
Figure 8. B’nai Israel of Salt Lake City.

Figure 9. Shearith Israel, NYC.

The Moorish Revival style was used heavily for synagogues but not in secular architecture from the 1860s to 1890s. Moorish synagogues often contained onion-shaped domes or minarets, horseshoe arches, and polychromatic decoration. One theory for their popularity is the nineteenth century revival of Jewish scholarly interest in the history of the Sephardic Diaspora, including its Golden Age in Spain and Northern Africa.3 Additionally, congregations built Moorish buildings in part to differentiate them from Victorian-style churches.4   Examples of Moorish synagogues are those in Denver (fig. 4) and Newark (fig. 5).

At the turn of the century, synagogue architecture returned to the American architectural mainstream with a heavy emphasis on the Classical Revival style. The change is attributable to the interest in classical design at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and also to archaeological discoveries of Galilean synagogues built during Roman times.5  This style was adopted by New York City’s Shearith Israel (fig. 9).

The small number of remaining eighteenth- and nineteenth-century structures underscores the transitions that have taken place in Jewish life over the past 150 years.  As Jews migrated out of small towns to large cities, and out of cities to suburbs, the religious spaces that they built have been purchased by new owners and used for new purposes.  Historical preservationists, however, have built community support both within and outside the Jewish community in order to preserve these synagogues as emblems of the Jewish past.

Those interested in learning more about eighteenth- and nineteenth-century synagogues may review this list of sources. Please also see the below gallery for more in-depth information on the synagogue buildings featured here.

NOTES:

  1. Samuel D. Gruber, “In Texas, a Synagogue is Trucked to Its New City,” Tablet Magazine (New York City: Nextbook Inc., December, 2014).
  2. Earl Pruce, Synagogues, Temples and Congregations in Maryland: 1830-1990 (Baltimore: The Jewish Historical Society of Maryland, 1993), 84.
  3. Samuel D. Gruber, Synagogues (New York: MetroBooks – Friedman/Fairfax Publishers, 1999), 86-88.
  4. Geoffrey Wigoder, The Story of the Synagogue (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1986), 174.
  5. Rachel Wischnitzer, Synagogue Architecture in the United States: History and Interpretation (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1955), 91, 95-96.