Site of the First Jewish Synagogue Owned by a Congregation on the Pacific Coast

The building arrived as a kit. It was framed in Baltimore, shipped out in 1849 and put up here as a Methodist Episcopal church, and three years later the trustees sold it to Alexander Myer, Joseph Levison and Charles Friedman, officers of the Association of the Children of Israel. On 3 September 1852 it was dedicated as the first synagogue any congregation owned on the Pacific Coast. B'nai Israel kept the orthodox tradition until 1880 and then turned reform. The plaque is set into the sidewalk.

What the plaque says

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 Friedman, 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. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 654 Plaque placed by the California State Park Commission in cooperation with Congregation B'nai Israel and the Sacramento Historic Landmarks Commission, October 26, 1958

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sacramento — 0.4 mi
  The Gold Rush river port that became the state capital, and jacked itself ten feet into the air to stop drowning.

More markers nearby

• Stanford-Lathrop Home — steps away
• California's Capitol Complex — 0.2 mi
• Site of Congregational Church — 0.2 mi
• Site of First and Second State Capitols at Sacramento — 0.3 mi