Temple Beth Israel (Hartford, Connecticut)

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Temple Beth Israel (1876)
Temple Beth Israel Hartford CT.JPG
The former synagogue, now cultural center,
in Hartford, in 2010
Religion
Affiliation
Ecclesiastical or organisational status
Status
  • Closed(as a synagogue);
  • Repurposed
Location
Location21 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut
CountryUnited States
Relief map USA Connecticut.png
Red pog.svg
Location in Connecticut
Geographic coordinates 41°45′33″N72°40′29″W / 41.75917°N 72.67472°W / 41.75917; -72.67472
Architecture
Architect(s) George Keller
TypeSynagogue
Style
Date established1843 (as a congregation)
GroundbreakingSeptember 28, 1875
Completed1876
Construction cost$35,567
Specifications
Direction of façadeNorth
Capacity600 worshipers
Length85 feet (26 m)
Width60 feet (18 m)
Dome(s)Two
Materials Red brick; brownstone
Website
charteroakcenter.org
Temple Beth Israel (1876)
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
NRHP reference No. 78002868
Added to NRHPDecember 1, 1978
[1] [2]

Temple Beth Israel (transliterated from Hebrew as "House of 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.

Contents

The congregation, established in 1843, and located in West Hartford since 1936, is one of the two oldest Jewish congregations in Connecticut and one of the largest Reform congregations in New England, with about 900 member families and about 2,000 individual members.

Designed by George Keller in the Romanesque Revival style and completed in 1876, the former synagogue building is the oldest purpose-built synagogue in Connecticut. The former synagogue building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. [2] After being rescued from threatened demolition, the building now houses a local cultural center.

Description and history

The former Temple Beth Israel building is located south of downtown Hartford in the Sheldon-Charter Oak neighborhood. It is on the south side of Charter Oak Avenue, just east its junction with Main Street and west of Charter Oak Park. The synagogue was designed by Keller and built in 1875-76 for a Jewish congregation established in 1843. In 1843 the State, at the instigation of the congregation's leadership, passed a law making it possible for Jewish congregations to build synagogues. The foundation stone was laid on September 25, 1875, as reported in a local newspaper: [2]

"The ceremony was all the more novel from the fact that it was the first time a cornerstone had been laid for a synagogue in the State of Connecticut.... There was a gathering of ten or twelve thousand people. The roofs and windows of buildings in the vicinity were crowded, and many carriages filled the streets around the site."

—  Hartford Courant , September 1875.

It is a 2-1⁄2 story red brick structure with a brownstone foundation and stone trim. It has a gabled roof, flanked at the front by two towers with octagonal domed cupolas. Windows and entrances are set in round-arch openings in the Romanesque style. [2]

It is the only known High Victorian eclectic Romanesque work of Keller, who was one of Hartford's leading architects of the second half of the 20th century. The temple was used by that congregation until 1935, when it was sold for $31,000 to the Calvary Temple, a Christian Baptist congregation, which occupied it until 1974. [2]

At the time of its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, the building was owned by the Hartford Redevelopment Agency and despite attempts to put it to other uses, remained unoccupied. [2] After standing vacant for some years, in the late 1970s the city threatened to demolish it. Jewish groups around the state organized to preserve it, and it now houses the Charter Oak Cultural Center. [3] The 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. [4] [5]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ransom, David F. (December 1, 1978). "Nomination form: Temple Beth Israel". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  3. ↑ "History". Charter Oak Cultural Center. n.d. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  4. ↑ Charles, Eleanor (April 7, 1996). "In the Region/Connecticut;15 Synagogues Gain National Landmark Status". New York Times. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  5. ↑ Ransom, David F. (March 29, 1995). "NRHP Registration Form Multiple Property Listing: Historic Synagogues of Connecticut". National Park Service. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
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