About this property
B'Nai Israel Synagogue is an historic former Jewish synagogue, and now Evangelical church, located at 126 South Main in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in the United States. It was erected in 1937 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. It is located in the Courthouse-Seminary Neighborhood Historic District. The decision to build a synagogue for Cape Girardeau's Jewish community came following the destruction of their Torah. In 1937, a 450-year-old Torah was brought to the United States by Isaac Becker, a Sikeston merchant. Isaac Becker had visited his father in Germany, who told him life for Jews in Germany was getting bad and that the book would be safer with him in the United States. Until that time, the High Holiday service was held in a number of locations: the local Elks Club building, the Sturdivant Bank, the Presbyterian Church, the Community Building in Fairground Park. However, tragedy struck on February 27, 1937, when the book was lost as the Community Building - the building it had been stored at - had been consumed by fire. After the fire, it was decided that a permanent synagogue was needed for both the Jewish community to worship at and as a place to store the community's scrolls. The synagogue was designed by the Saint Louis architect Thomas P. Barnett Jr. who also designed other buildings in Cape Girardeau as well as the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis. The synagogue is located at 126 S. Main Street in Cape Girardeau's historic commercial district. The synagogue is a stuccoed brick, one-story building constructed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style with Islamic influences. The building is covered in white stucco and red mission tiles. The building has a flap sloping roofline and red tiles along the parapet. A dome constructed of red painted sheet metal squares. A symmetrical band of decorative ceramic mosaic tiles form the base of the dome. Recessed Islamic pointed horseshoe arches provide openings on all three sides. Diamond pane casement windows with Islamic detail are arranged in the sides of the portico. To the south lies a gated area made of wrought iron with the Star of David molded into the iron.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was B'Nai Israel Synagogue listed on the National Register?
B'Nai Israel Synagogue was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 4, 2004.
What type of historic resource is B'Nai Israel Synagogue?
B'Nai Israel Synagogue is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for B'Nai Israel Synagogue?
The period of significance for B'Nai Israel Synagogue is recorded as the industrial era, specifically around 1937.
Can I research the history near B'Nai Israel Synagogue?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near B'Nai Israel Synagogue will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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