Lloyd Street Synagogue

Last updated

Lloyd Street Synagogue
Lloyd Street Synagogue, 11 Lloyd St., Baltimore City, Maryland.JPG
Former Lloyd Street Synagogue
Religion
Affiliation
Ecclesiastical or organisational status
Ownership Jewish Museum of Maryland
Status
  • Closed(as a synagogue);
  • Repurposed (as a museum)
Location
Location11 Lloyd Street, Baltimore, Maryland
CountryUnited States
Baltimore osm-mapnik location map.png
Red pog.svg
Location of the former synagogue, now museum, in Baltimore, Maryland
Geographic coordinates 39°17′25.7″N76°36′4.5″W / 39.290472°N 76.601250°W / 39.290472; -76.601250
Architecture
Architect(s)
TypeSynagogue
Style Greek Revival
General contractor Messrs Curly and Sons
Date established1830 (as a congregation)
Completed1845
Construction cost$20,000
Materials Brick
Lloyd Street Synagogue
Lloyd Street Synagogue.jpg
The former synagogue in 1958
Arealess than one acre
NRHP reference No. 78003142
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 19, 1978
Designated BCL1971
[1] [2]

The Lloyd Street Synagogue is a Reform and Orthodox Jewish former synagogue located on Lloyd Street, Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. The Greek Revival-style building is the third oldest synagogue building in the United States and was the first synagogue building erected in Maryland. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and designated as a Baltimore City Landmark in 1971.

Contents

The Lloyd Street former synagogue building is now owned by the Jewish Museum of Maryland and is open to the public as a museum in the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore.

History

The Lloyd Street Synagogue was built by the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, incorporated on January 29, 1830, [3] as Nidche Yisroel. [4] For the first fifteen years of its existence, services were held in a small room above a local grocery store. The Lloyd Street synagogue was dedicated by the Rev. S. M. Isaacs of New York and the Rev. Isaac Leeser of Philadelphia, together with the ministers of the congregation, Abraham Rice and A. Ansell (Anshel). [4]

In 1889, the building was sold to The St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, a parish that served mainly immigrants from Lithuania, which used the building until 1905. [5] In 1905, it was sold to congregation Shomrei Mishmeres HaKodesh, an Orthodox Jewish congregation of immigrants from Eastern Europe, which continued to use the building until 1963, when the building was threatened with demolition. [3] [6] The effort to preserve Lloyd Street was the impetus for the founding of the Jewish Historical Society of Maryland, now the Jewish Museum of Maryland. [7] [1]

Baltimore architects Robert Cary Long, Jr. and William Reasin designed the building in the fashionable Greek Revival style. [3] Four doric columns support a classic pediment, all painted light pink. The body of the building is brick. The building is a near-twin of St. Peter the Apostle Church, designed by Long in 1842.

Lloyd Street Synagogue is the third oldest synagogue building in the United States (several earlier buildings are no longer standing). The two oldest synagogue buildings, both in active use, are the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island and Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue, in Charleston, South Carolina. [8]

The building was designated as a Baltimore City Landmark in 1971, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, [1] [2] and lies within the Baltimore National Heritage Area. [9]

In 2011, archaeologists uncovered a mikveh under the synagogue. It is believed to be the oldest known mikveh in the United States. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

Jews in Philadelphia can trace their history back to Colonial America. Jews have lived in Philadelphia since the arrival of William Penn in 1682.

The Baltimore Hebrew Congregation is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 7401 Park Heights Avenue, in Pikesville, on the border of Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Maryland, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chizuk Amuno Congregation</span> Conservative congregation and synagogue in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Chizuk Amuno Congregation is a Conservative Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Stevenson Road, in Pikesville, a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish Museum of Maryland</span> Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, US

The Jewish Museum of Maryland is located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The museum tells the story of the American Jewish experience in the city of Baltimore and throughout the US state of Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Mikveh Israel</span> Synagogue in Philadelphia

Congregation Mikveh Israel, is a Sephardic Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 44 North Fourth Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The congregation traces its history from 1740. Mikveh Israel is a Spanish and Portuguese congregation that follows the rite of the Amsterdam esnoga. It is the oldest synagogue in Philadelphia, and the longest running in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Shearith Israel</span> Synagogue in Manhattan, New York

The Congregation Shearith Israel, often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 2 West 70th Street, at Central Park West, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B'nai Abraham Synagogue (Brenham, Texas)</span>

The B'nai Abraham Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue and former congregation from Brenham, Texas, in the United States. The congregation was organized in 1885.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B'nai Israel Synagogue (Baltimore)</span> Synagogue in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

B'nai Israel Synagogue is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in the historic Jonestown neighborhood, near downtown and the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. The synagogue is one of the oldest synagogue buildings in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Ohabei Shalom (Brookline, Massachusetts)</span> Reform synagogue in Brookline, Massachusetts, US

Temple Ohabei Shalom is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 1187 Beacon Street, in Brookline, suburban Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Organized in 1842 with membership mainly of German Jews, it is the oldest Jewish congregation in Massachusetts and the third oldest in New England, following congregations in Newport and New Haven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Israel (Scottsdale, Arizona)</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in Scottsdale, Arizona, US

Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 10460 North 56th Street in Scottsdale, Arizona, in the United States. Incorporated in 1920, the congregation affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism in 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adas Israel Congregation (Washington, D.C.)</span> Largest Conservative synagogue in Washington, D.C.

Adas Israel is a Conservative synagogue in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is the largest Conservative synagogue in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum</span>

The Capital Jewish Museum, officially the Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum, is a historical society and museum in Washington, D.C., focused on the history of Jewish life in the American capital city and the surrounding Washington metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B'er Chayim Temple</span> Historical synagogue in Cumberland, Maryland, United States

B'er Chayim Temple is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Cumberland, Maryland, in the United States. As of 2008, B'er Chayim counted approximately 72 families as members.

Kol Ami is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 225 North Country Club Road, in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The congregation was formed through the 2019 merger of Temple Emanu-El and the Congregation Or Chadash, that was established in 1995. The leaders of Temple Emanuel-El and Congregation Or Chadash began discussions about a potential merger in 2018. The merger of the two Reform congregations was consummated the following year, as Kol Ami.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Synagogue</span> Historic former Reform synagogue in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Synagogue is an historic former Reform Jewish synagogue building located in the Madison Park neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaarei Tfiloh Synagogue</span> Orthodox synagogue in Baltimore, 1921–2023

Shaarei Tfiloh Synagogue, also known as the Shul in the Park, is a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue located on Druid Hill Park at 2001 Liberty Heights Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. Completed in 1927, in September 2023 it was reported that the synagogue had closed.

Har Sinai – Oheb Shalom Congregation is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 7310 Park Heights Avenue, in Pikesville, Baltimore County, Maryland, in the United States. Established in 1842 in Baltimore and known as Har Sinai Congregation, and in 1853 near Camden Yards as Temple Oheb Shalom, the two congregations merged in 2019 and is the oldest Reform congregation in the United States that has used the same prayer rite since its inception.

The city of Cumberland, Maryland is home to a small and declining but historically significant Jewish community. The city is home to a single synagogue, B'er Chayim Temple, one of the oldest synagogues in the United States. Cumberland has had a Jewish presence since the early 1800s. The community was largest prior to the 1960s, but has declined in number over the decades. Historically, the Jewish community in Cumberland maintained several synagogues, a Jewish cemetery, and a Hebrew school. By 2019, Cumberland's Jewish community had its lowest population point since the early 1900s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Shearith Israel (Baltimore, Maryland)</span> Orthodox synagogue in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Congregation Shearith Israel is a historic Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 5835 Park Heights Avenue, in Park Heights, northwest Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 3 LeFaivre, Michele (1976). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Lloyd Street Synagogue" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  2. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 ""Baltimore Travel Itinerary-The Lloyd Street and Chizuk Amuno Synagogues:. National Park Service. Retrieved December 29, 2010.
  4. 1 2 PD-icon.svg  Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "BALTIMORE". The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Roylance, Frank D. (February 13, 2011). "Jewish ritual bath found in Baltimore may be oldest in U.S." The Baltimore Sun.
  6. "History". Shomreimish Mishmeres.
  7. Bilitsky, Helen Mintz (February 2002). "The Jewish Traveler:Baltimore". Hadassah Magazine. Archived from the original on November 23, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
  8. Gordon, Mark W. (November 4, 2021). "Rediscovering Jewish Infrastructure: 2022 Update on United States Eighteenth and Nineteenth-Century Synagogues". American Jewish Historical Society . Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  9. "Lloyd Street Synagogue". Explore Baltimore. Baltimore Heritage Area Association. 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2024.