Designed by Helena architects Heinlein and Matthias, non Jewish architects, Temple Emanu-El was described in contemporary accounts as Byzantine or Moorish in style, a grand temple constructed of porphyry, sandstone and granite. Dedicated in April, 1891, the temple had served the Jewish community for a short four decades when the 1930s arrived, and with them the poverty that enveloped the entire country. The much diminished congregation was forced to sell the organ and pews in 1935, then, in 1937, unable to find a buyer for their beloved temple, the congregation turned it over to the State of Montana for One Dollar.
The news article below, from the Helena Independent Record, is a short historical retrospective on the synagogue.
Once, Helena had a synagogue
By SANJAY TALWANI, Independent Record | Dec 5, 2010
Helena has no synagogue. But long ago, it had not only a synagogue, or Jewish temple, but the first one built between St. Paul and Portland.
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Photo courtesy of Montana Historical Society
Research Center — Photograph Archives
Helena, Montana.
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Temple Emanu-El was first dedicated in 1891 at 515 N. Ewing St., when Montana had a vibrant Jewish community. Back then, Jews owned many downtown businesses; Butte once had a Jewish mayor. And the Jewish graveyard in Helena has tombstones dating to 1866.
When Helena suffered a series of fires in the mining days, Jewish connections to financial networks outside the state kept capital flowing and helped keep the town alive, according to an account written for the Independent Record in 2001 by Ellen Baumler of the Montana Historical Society.
The first rabbi made it to Helena in the late 1880s or 1890. Gov. J.K. Toole laid the cornerstone for the new temple in 1890, according to Baumler’s account.
The cornerstone bore the date 5651 (the year according to the Jewish calendar). It featured “onion” domes, reminiscent of the architecture of Asia Minor, decorated with black stars. The Hebrew letters inscribed on it spelled “Gate to the Eternal.”
But the rabbi left for Kansas City in 1892, the local economy had problems and in the 1930s, the congregation sold the organ and pews to another church, and sold the building to the state for $1.
The state sandblasted off the religious symbols and removed the domes, converting it into offices. It was used for storage by the Montana Historical Society in the late 1970s, and was finally sold to its current owner, the Catholic Diocese of Helena, for $83,000, Baumler wrote.
A plaque commemorating its history was added in a ceremony in 2001 that included members of the local Jewish community, Catholic officials and descendants of local Jewish pioneers.
From the Helena Independent Record