United Hebrew Congregation has a rich history going back to 1837, when the City of St. Louis was still a relatively small town, and before the influx of German and Irish immigrants had dramatically changed the makeup of the population.… Continue Reading
One of the most historic Jewish congregations in America, B’Nai El called the Shaw neighborhood, at 3666 Flad, home from 1905 to 1930. I realized I photographed their next location on Delmar and several years ago. They are now located… Continue Reading
The sun was setting as I took some pictures of the gates to University Heights, just to the west of the Loop. The lions are actually concrete casts of the originals, which are now in an undisclosed location. I still… Continue Reading
Rob Powers at Built St. Louis has taken much better pictures of Congregation Temple Israel, but I was surprised to discover that the bronze finial on the roof is now gone. I have featured a previous location of Temple Israel… Continue Reading
Update: See the Temple’s current location in this post from May of 2020. I never realized it, but the old United Hebrew Temple on Skinker was a Maritz and Young design from 1927. The strong Moorish inspiration is present in… Continue Reading
Wow, what an amazing structure! The old Shaare Zedek Synagogue is now occupied by the equally historic Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church, but the beauty of the house of worship still shows through. I find Jewish architecture intriguing. Since it… Continue Reading
Don’t let anyone tell you that smaller cities in America are boring! After eating lunch at a great “farm to table” place downtown, I began wandering around the streets to the east of Bloomington’s center. I spotted this building, and… Continue Reading
After writing my recent St. Louis Magazine article about Centenary United Methodist Church, one of the oldest continually operating congregations in downtown St. Louis, and in the city in general, I became interested in the synagogue that backed right up… Continue Reading
Originally in the Near North Side on Dayton near Leffingwell, the Congregation Zephran David moved out to the West End in the 1920-30s. The construction date in the City’s records is clearly wrong at 1900, since the Sanborn maps show… Continue Reading
The West End used to be one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city. It’s struggling now, but it still has wonderful remnants of the past. Take the former synagogue above, which reminds me of the Virginia Theater in Dutchtown.… Continue Reading