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 Temple Emanu-El - Helena, MT Posted by:  T0SHEA
N 46° 35.399 W 112° 01.961
12T E 420891 N 5160119
Built in the Jewish year of 5651, which equates to 1890 in more common chronology, Temple Emanu-El is the oldest synagogue in Montana, as well as the oldest standing building of Moorish design.
Waymark Code: WMWMEZ
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 09/18/2017
Views: 0
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. This was the first Jewish Synagogue to be built between the cities of St. Paul, Minnesota and Portland, Oregon. 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.
Stripped of all religious symbolism, including the beautiful star-studded onion domes, the Department of Public Welfare, which included the Montana Relief Commission, was moved into the building. Later the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services occupied the building until 1976, after which it stood empty until 1980, used as storage by the Montana Historical Society.
In 1981 the Catholic Diocese of Helena purchased the former temple for $83,000 at public auction, the Diocese being the only bidder. Since 1981, the beloved Temple Emanu-El has been well maintained and in use as offices of the Diocese and the Bishop.
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Photo courtesy of Montana Historical Society
Research Center — Photograph Archives
Helena, Montana.
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TEMPLE EMANU-EL
Opportunity drew European Jewish immigrants to the gold camp at Last Chance where business and religion brought them together. The Jewish community contributed a firm financial foundation to the early settlement. It was the Jewish pioneers especially, with ties to resources in larger cities, whose businesses rose again and again in the face of ruinous fires that plagued early Helena. Helena’s Jews worshipped together as early as 1866, yet the congregation remained without a temple for over twenty years. In 1890, the public gathered as Governor J. K. Toole ceremoniously laid the cornerstone for the first Jewish temple between St. Paul and Portland. Helena architects Heinlen and Matthias drew the plans for the Romanesque and Moorish style synagogue under the tutelage of a building committee. Strong Eastern influences include the keyhole windows and star-studded domes that once capped the corner towers. The grand temple reflects the congregation’s generous intent “to ornament the city” that had become home. But the congregation dwindled by the 1930s and the State of Montana acquired the building, promising to use it for social purposes. Religious symbolism removed and a second story added, the former temple became an early model of adaptive reuse. It housed Social and Rehabilitative Services until 1976 and then lay vacant until the Catholic Diocese of Helena purchased the building in 1981. On April 21, 2002, descendants of Jewish pioneers and the Catholic community together celebrated the centennial of this regional landmark. The Hebrew date on the cornerstone, 5651, remains to document its original purpose.
From the NRHP plaque at the buildingVisit Instructions:
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