Ohev Sholem Synagogue (New London, Connecticut)

Last updated

Ohev Sholem Synagogue
Ohev Sholem Synagogue, New London CT.jpg
The former synagogue, now community center, in 2012
Religion
Affiliation Judaism (former)
Ecclesiastical or organisational status Synagogue (1920–1974)
StatusClosed(as a synagogue)
Location
Location109 Blinman Street, New London, Connecticut
CountryUnited States
Relief map USA Connecticut.png
Red pog.svg
Location of the former synagogue in Connecticut
Geographic coordinates 41°21′4″N72°6′9″W / 41.35111°N 72.10250°W / 41.35111; -72.10250
Architecture
Architect(s) Dudley St. Clair Donnelly
TypeSynagogue
Style
General contractor
  • Samuel Brody
  • Thomas Occhialini
Date establishedc.1916(as a congregation)
Completed1920
Ohev Sholem Synagogue
Arealess than one acre
MPS Historic Synagogues of Connecticut MPS
NRHP reference No. 95000562
Added to NRHPMay 11, 1995
[1]

The Ohev Sholem Synagogue is an historic former Jewish synagogue building, located at 109 Blinman Street in New London, Connecticut, in the United States.

Contents

Built in 1919-1920, the building is good example of the Classical Revival and Colonial Revival styles applied to synagogue architecture. The building served a religious function until 1974, when it was sold to a Latino community organization.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 for its architectural significance, [1] [2] and as part of a multiple property listing of fifteen historic synagogues in Connecticut. [3]

Description and history

Ohev Sholem is located west of New London's main business district, on the north side of Blinman Street between Truman and Bank Streets. It is a two-story masonry building, built out of red brick mostly laid in Flemish bond. Its entry has double doors separated by an engaged column, set in round-arch openings. A large circular window stands above the doors, within a large brick archway that encompasses it and the doors. Four small windows flank this arch, two on each side. The façade is crowned by a stepped segmental arch with short flanking posts. The interior has a vestibule area, with stairs leading up to a former gallery (now offices), with the main sanctuary including what appears to be an original chandelier, and a recess in which the ark housing the Torah would have been placed. [4]

The Ohev Sholem congregation appears to have had its organizational original in a community support organization in which local Jews cared for their ill and infirm. That organization purchased the land on which the temple stands in 1916, [4] and began construction of the building in 1919. The architect of the new building was Dudley St. Clair Donnelly and the builders were carpenter Samuel Brody and mason Thomas Occhialini, all of New London. [5] The building is architecturally significant within the state for its distinctive combination of Classical Revival, Colonial Revival, and Romanesque Revival features. The congregation was merged with another in 1974, at which time the building was sold to La Centro de Comunidad, a Latino community organization. It is likely that certain trappings of Judaism (such as a probably Star of David in the circular window on the facade) have been removed from the building. [4]

The former Ohev Sholem Synagogue building was one of fifteen Connecticut synagogues added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 [1] and 1996 in response to an unprecedented multiple submission, nominating nineteen synagogues. [6] [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Beth Israel (West Hartford, Connecticut)</span> Historic Reform synagogue in West Hartford, Connecticut, US

Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 701 Farmington Avenue, in West Hartford, Connecticut, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Knesseth Israel (Ellington, Connecticut)</span> Modern Orthodox synagogue in Connecticut, USA

Congregation Knesseth Israel, also known as the Ellington Shul, is a Modern Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 236 Pinney Street in Ellington, Connecticut, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Israel Synagogue (Cambridge, Massachusetts)</span> Historic former Reform synagogue in Massachusetts

Beth Israel Synagogue is a historic former Jewish synagogue building at 238 Columbia Street in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. Built in 1903, it was the first and principal synagogue to serve the East Cambridge area, and is a fine local example of Romanesque Revival architecture. Now converted into residential condominiums, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Agudath Sholom</span> Modern Orthodox synagogue and historic former synagogue in Stamford, Connecticut, US

Congregation Agudath Sholom is a Modern Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue located at Strawberry Hill Avenue, in Stamford, Connecticut, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Israel Synagogue (Norwalk, Connecticut)</span> Religious building in Norwalk, Connecticut, United States

Beth Israel Synagogue was an Orthodox synagogue and, since 1972, a Baptist church building located at 31 Concord Street in the South Norwalk section of Norwalk, Connecticut, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anshei Israel Synagogue</span> Historic former Orthodox synagogue in Lisbon, Connecticut, US

Anshei Israel Synagogue is an historic former Orthodox Jewish synagogue building, located at 142 Newent Road,, in Lisbon, Connecticut, in the United States. The synagogue was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 as part of a multiple property listing of fifteen historic synagogues in Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in New Haven, Connecticut</span>

This is a list of National Register of Historic Places listings in New Haven, Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tephereth Israel Synagogue</span> Historic Reform synagogue in New Britain, Connecticut, US

Tephereth Israel Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 76 Winter Street in downtown New Britain, Connecticut, in the United States. The congregation, founded in 1925, meets at a two-story brick temple with Romanesque Revival and Colonial Revival features, designed by Hartford architect Adolf Feinberg and built in 1925.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Israel Synagogue (New Haven, Connecticut)</span> Orthodox historic synagogue in New Haven, Connecticut, US

Congregation Beth Israel, also known as the Orchard Street Shul, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 232 Orchard Street in New Haven, Connecticut, in the United States. The synagogue building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Ohavi Zedek Synagogue</span>

The Old Ohavi Zedek Synagogue is an historic synagogue building at Archibald and Hyde Streets in Burlington, Vermont, in the United States. It was built in 1885 for Ohavi Zedek, Vermont's oldest Jewish congregation, and is currently occupied by Congregation Ahavath Gerim. The building, a distinctive vernacular interpretation of the Gothic Revival style, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Beth Israel (Hartford, Connecticut)</span> Historic former Reform synagogue, now cultural center, in Hartford, Connecticut, US

Temple Beth Israel, sometimes called Charter Oak Temple, is an historic former Reform Jewish synagogue and later church building, now cultural center, located at 21 Charter Oak Avenue, in Hartford, Connecticut, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahavas Sholem Synagogue</span> Historic former Reform synagogue in New Haven, Connecticut, US

The Ahavas Sholem Synagogue, once known colloquially as The White Street Shul and now as the Thomas Hill Chapel, is a historic religious building at 30 White Street in New Haven, Connecticut. Built in 1928 for an Orthodox congregation founded in 1912, it is a distinctive example of a neighborhood synagogue with elaborate Neoclassical styling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acors Barns House</span> Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Acors Barns House is located at 68 Federal Street at the corner of Meridian Street in New London, Connecticut. Barns was a wealthy merchant in the whaling industry whose company became one of the largest whaling firms in the city. He managed to avoid the collapse of whaling by investing elsewhere; he was the founder of the Bank of Commerce in 1852, and his son and grandson succeeded him as president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple B'Nai Israel (New Britain, Connecticut)</span> Historic former synagogue in New Britain, Connecticut, US

Temple B'Nai Israel is an historic former Jewish synagogue and former Masonic hall, located at 265 West Main Street in New Britain, Connecticut, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Ahavath Achim</span> Modern Orthodox synagogue and historic former synagogue in Connecticut, US

Congregation Ahavath Achim is a Modern Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Fairfield, Connecticut, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Synagogue (Hartford, Connecticut)</span> Historic former synagogue in Hartford, Connecticut, US

Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Synagogue is an historic former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 370 Garden Street, Hartford, Connecticut, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chevry Lomday Mishnayes Synagogue</span> United States historic place

Chevry Lomday Mishnayes Synagogue is a historic former synagogue building at 148-150 Bedford Street in Hartford, Connecticut, in the United States. Built in 1924, it is unusual for an ecclesiastical structure in that its design appears to be based on that of an apartment house. It housed an Orthodox Jewish congregation until 1963, and now houses the local House of God Church. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ein Jacob (Ayn Yacob) Synagogue</span> United States historic place

Ein Jacob Synagogue is a historic religious building at 748 Connecticut Avenue in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Built in 1918, it is notable for its relatively sophisticated architectural appearance, despite a use of relatively low-cost materials for the period. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth El Synagogue (Waterbury, Connecticut)</span> United States historic place

Beth El Synagogue is a historic synagogue at 359–375 Cooke Street in Waterbury, Connecticut. Built in 1929, it is the first synagogue in the state to be built in the Byzantine Revival style, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 for its architecture. Originally built for a Conservative congregation, it is now home to Yeshiva Ateres Shmuel, a yeshiva.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dudley St. Clair Donnelly</span> American architect

Dudley St. Clair Donnelly (1870-1937) was an American architect practicing in New London, Connecticut in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Ransom, David F. (August 26, 1994). "National Register of Historic Places Registration, Multiple Property Listing, Historic Synagogues of Connecticut: Ohev Sholem (Ohave Cholum) Synagogue / Centro De-La-Comunidad". National Park Service. (pages 94-101) and Accompanying two photos, one exterior and one interior (apparently from 1994?)
  3. 1 2 Ransom, David F. (March 29, 1995). "NRHP Registration Form Multiple Property Listing: Historic Synagogues of Connecticut". National Park Service. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 "NRHP nomination for Ohev Sholem Synagogue". National Park Service. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  5. "New London, Conn.," American Contractor 40, no. 41 (October 11 1919): 51.
  6. Charles, Eleanor (April 7, 1996). "In the Region/Connecticut: 15 Synagogues Gain National Landmark Status". New York Times. Retrieved July 31, 2010.