Beth-el Congregation

Beth-El grew from ties the founders already had. Henry Gernsbacher moved his family from Weatherford to live among Jews, and he helped start a B'nai B'rith lodge in 1901, followed by a National Council of Jewish Women section. In fall 1902 he called a meeting at the Knights of Pythias Hall, where 43 men pledged dues. Their secretary wrote to Dallas's Temple Emanu-El to borrow a Torah and shofar for the High Holy Days. The Star-Telegram headlined the news "Reformed Jews Are Organized." Historian Hollace Weiner calls the founders a cousins club of perhaps ten extended families.

What the plaque says

Beth-el Congregation The beginnings of a Reform Jewish Community in Fort Worth date to 1879, when the Hebrew Benevolent Society opened a Sabbath School, and early services were held in homes. About 1900, under the leadership of Henry Gernsbacher (1858-1936), enthusiasm began to grow,and in 1902 a call was issued in the area for the organization of a formal congregation. Forty-three people gathered to found the Beth-el Congregation, and Sam Levy (1856-1927) was elected president. The Fort Worth section of the National Counsel of Jewish Women donated funds to bring a Rabbi to conduct High Holy Days services. The early days of the congregation were difficult ones, with services being held sporadically. For a time, student Rabbis from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati conducted services for High Holy Days. In 1904 a Rabbi was hired, and the congregation met in rented quarters. A lot was bought on the corner of Fifth and Taylor streets in 1907, and a Temple was built in 1908. By 1919 the congregation had outgrown the buildings and a new Temple was built on this site. Soon after a 25th Anniversary Celebration, the temple was destroyed by fire on August 29, 1946. Beth-El Temple was rebuilt, and dedicated on January 7, 1949. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Tarrant County Courthouse — 1.2 mi
  A pink-granite courthouse of 1895 on the bluff where the Army set up Fort Worth in 1849, in a county named for the man who led the 1841 attack on the Native villages of Village Creek.
• Kimbell Art Museum — 2.2 mi
  Louis Kahn's cycloid-vaulted museum of 1972, built from Kay Kimbell's bequest and joined in 2013 by Renzo Piano's pavilion for the exhibitions the Kahn galleries could not hold.
• National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame — 2.4 mi
  A hall of fame begun in Hereford in 1975 to honor rodeo women, widened in 1977 to Western heritage, and housed in Fort Worth's Cultural District since 2002.
• Fort Worth Stockyards — 3.5 mi
  The brick-street cattle market where Armour and Swift built packing plants in 1902, now a National Register district with a Coliseum, a museum and a longhorn drive twice a day.

More markers nearby

• Broadway Baptist Church of Ft. Worth — steps away
• Texas Spring Palace — 0.4 mi
• Hell's Half Acre — 0.5 mi
• St. Andrews United Methodist Church of Fort Worth — 0.5 mi