Oldest synagogues in the United States

The designation of the "'oldest synagogue in the United States" requires careful use of definitions, and must be divided into two parts, the oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, and the oldest in the sense of oldest congregation. Even here, we have the distinction between old synagogue buildings that have been in continuous use as synagogues, and those that have been converted to other purposes, between buildings that have been in continuous use as synagogues and those, such as the Touro, that were shuttered for many decades, and between early established congregations that have been in continuous existence and early congregations that ceased to exist.

Oldest congregations

* Congregation Shearith Israel, 1655, is the oldest congregation in the United States, its present building dates from 1897.
* The Newport, Rhode Island community is dated to sometime previous to the purchase of a communal cemetery in 1677. Prayers were conducted in private homes until Congregation Jeshuat Israel established in the 1750s. In much of the nineteenth century no Jews lived in Newport and the ownership of the building and synagogue were entrusted to Congregation Shearith Israel. The building was reopened for the use of Ashkenazi Jews in 1883.
* Congregation Mickve Israel of Savannah, Georgia was organized in 1733. [Jonathan Sarna, American Judaism, Yale University Press, 2004, p. 19.]
* Congregation Mikveh Israel of Philadelphia was organized in the 1740s. [Jonathan Sarna, American Judaism, Yale University Press, 2004, p. 19.]
* Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue, Charleston, South Carolina, was founded in the 1740s. [Jonathan Sarna, American Judaism, Yale University Press, 2004, p. 19.]

* K.K. Bene Israel is the oldest congregation west of the Alleghany Mountains.

Oldest buildings

* The Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, is the oldest Jewish house of worship in North America that is still standing. It was built in 1759 for the Jeshuat Israel congregation, which was established in 1658.
* The second oldest synagogue in the U.S. still standing is Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue, 1840, in Charleston, South Carolina.

By state

California

* Congregation B'nai Israel (Sacramento, California) is the oldest congregation in Sacramento, California tracing it's history back to September 2, 1852 [http://www.bnais.com/history.cfm] ] making it the first congregationally owned synagogue west of the Mississippi River.

Florida

* Ahavath Chesed in Jacksonville, and Temple Beth-Elin Pensacola each has claims to be the the oldest Jewish congregation in Florida. The Jacksonsonville was meeting for prayer by 1867, but appears to have incorporated later than Pensacola which dedicated its first building in 1876, well before Jacksonville's 1882 building.

* Which is the oldest Florida synagogue building still standing?

Kentucky

* Congregation Adath Israel Brith Shalom (Louisville, Kentucky) founded 1842 is the oldest congregation in Kentucky

Maryland

* Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, incorporated 1830, is the oldest congregation in Maryland.
* Lloyd Street Synagogue is the oldest synagogue building.

New York

* Congregation Shearith Israel, 1655, is the oldest congregation in the United States
* Angel Orensanz Center, 1849, is the oldest synagogue building still standing in New York State.

Texas

* Congregation B'nai Israel (Galveston, Texas), founded 1868, is the oldest congregation in Texas and its 1870 building is the oldest synagogue building.

References