#654 Site of the First Jewish Synagogue Owned by a Congregation on the Pacific Coast, Sacramento

  1. Sacramento County

2/29/1996

Landmark information

  • Location:
    In sidewalk, 7th St between Capitol and L, Sacramento
  • Plaque:
    Official State Plaque
  • Site:
    Nothing Remains
  • Date First Visited:
    2/29/1996
  • Date Most Recently Visited:
    2/29/1996
  • GPS Coordinates:
    N 38 34.717, W 121 29.914
  • Other Designations:
    National Historic Landmark
    National Register of Historic Places

About this landmark

Plaque text:

First Synagogue Owned by Congregation B'nai Israel
This was the site of the first synagogue on the Pacific Coast. Dedicated on September 3, 1852, the building, prefabricated in Baltimore and shipped around Cape Horn in 1849, originally housed the Methodist Episcopal Church, whose trustees sold the edifice on june 4, 1852, to Alexander Myer, Joseph Levison, and Charles Freidman, officers of the Association of the Children of Israel (B'nai Israel). The congregation followed the Orthodox tradition until 1880, when it became an adherent of Reform Judaism.