Hanukkah begins tomorrow at sun down. In celebration of the festival of lights I’ve gathered some photos from the MDAH Historic Resources Database of some of Mississippi’s cultural sites associated with the Jewish faith.
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Along with the places of worship featured above, a few Jewish architects built several of the prominent structures in our state.
The firm of Weiss, Dreyfous, & Seiferth designed or remodeled several houses in Natchez. They also designed the Eola Hotel in Natchez and the Henry Clay Hotel in West Point.
Henry Clay Hotel – West Point, Miss. Sysid 90706. Scanned as tiff in 2008/06/17 by MDAH. Credit: Courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Gerard Brandon V House, Natchez, Adams County. Photo by T. Brown, Historic Natchez Foundation. Nov. 2012
Eola Hotel, Natchez, Adams County. Photo by Unknown 1950’s. Retrieved 11/30/12 from Mississippi Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) Database.
While I do not know if H.A. Overbeck was Jewish, he is known for his temple designs in Greenville, Lexington, and Natchez, as well as in other southern states.
![Temple Israel [Hebrew Union Temple], Greenville, Washington County. Photo by J. Baughn, MDAH. 12/01/2009. Retrieved 11/30/2012 from Mississippi Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) Database.](https://i0.wp.com/misspreservation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/temple-israel-date-12-1-2009.jpeg?w=429&h=398&ssl=1 "Temple Israel (Date 12-1-2009)")
Temple Israel [Hebrew Union Temple], Greenville, Washington County. Photo by J. Baughn, MDAH. 12/01/2009. Retrieved 11/30/2012 from Mississippi Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) Database.
Temple Beth El, Lexington, Holmes County. Photo by MDAH, 1972. Retrieved 11/30/12 from Mississippi Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) Database.
Temple B’nai Israel, Natchez, Adams County. Photo by Unknown Source. 03/06/2008. Retrieved 11/30/12 from Mississippi Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) Database.
Emile Weil’s 1945 obituary referred to him as “one of the South’s leading architects.” Mississippians would know him best for his theater designs in Hattiesburg, Laurel, and Meridian.
TEMPLE THEATER, Meridian, Lauderdale county, Photo by Jody Cook, MDAH. January, 1979. Retrieved 12/01/12 from Mississippi Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) Database.
Pinehurst Hotel and Arabian Theater, Laurel, Jones County. Photo by Michael W. Fazio, May\June 1984. Retrieved 12/01/12 from Mississippi Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) Database.
Saenger Theater, Hattiesburg, Forrest Co. Photo By Francis Farmer Feb. 9, 1979. Retrieved 11/30/2012 from Mississippi Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) Database.
So if you happen by any of these buildings take a snap shot and upload it to the Preservation in Mississippi Flickr page, or if you go to services at any of these synagogues this season let us know!
Categories: Clarksdale, Cleveland, Cool Old Places, Greenville, Hattiesburg, Historic Preservation, Laurel, Meridian, Natchez, Port Gibson, West Point
Preservation in Mississippi 
Great post! Is that an onion dome on the Port Gibson temple?
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Thanks! It sure is an onion dome on Temple Gemiluth Chased. One of two that I know of in the state. The other just down the road in Natchez.
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There is a beautiful golden onion dome atop Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Clinton. Orthodox Christian, not Jewish. http://www.holyres.net/
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That’s an onion dome or sure. Thanks for bringing this building to our attention. The website says it was built after 1980? Im surprised no one mentioned this building in July when Onion Dome was word of the week.
https://misspreservation.com/2012/07/27/misspres-architectural-word-of-the-week-onion-dome/
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The building Clinton’s Orthodox congregation now occupies was originally Mt. Salus Presbyterian Church, built 1954 and designed by Frank Gates, according to the MDAH database: http://www.apps.mdah.ms.gov/Public/prop.aspx?id=2117044064&view=facts&y=1004
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Thanks! I was wondering about how old that building was. Old enough to have wooden windows, but new enough that the whole building looked contemporary with its broken pediment door surround.
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The dome was installed in 2007, shortly after HROC bought the church: http://66.147.244.236/~holyresn/holyres/Dome_Install/index.htm
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Wow what a beautiful addition to the building. Thanks for the link!
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The Temple Theater picture is not loading for me.
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Nevermind! It loaded finally!
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I had the same problem. I think I’ve fixed it now. Let me know if you still have problems with it.
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I have been intrigued by the apparent disappearance of Jewish communities from the Vicksburg/Jackson area. That temple you show from Port Gibson is now a messianic Jewish (meaning Judaism-identified Christian) temple. A lot of Jews used to live in Vicksburg, too, but are now mostly gone.
What do you know about why they left?
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Thanks for the info on the current use of the Temple Gemiluth Chassed in Port Gibson. I’m not really sure about why the Jewish population has dwindled in the state. The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life might have some information on their site. You can click on this link or we have a link to the ISJL on the front page of the MissPres website under “Research Resources”. I think Jackson still has the largest Jewish population in Mississippi.
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Stuart Rockoff with the ISJL does good talks around the state and the region that touch on the movement of Jewish communities out of the small towns and into the larger urban areas, mirroring the larger population. Jackson’s temple is thriving, while meanwhile many very old congregations in smaller towns like Vicksburg, Lexington, Natchez, and Greenville slip away leaving their wonderful buildings with uncertain futures.
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I was just in the Hebrew Union Temple (Greenville) yesterday. It was once the largest congregation in MS.
https://picasaweb.google.com/117012022455268263531/HebrewUnionTempleGreenville
The earlier temple in Greenville can be seen on their website’s history page:
http://www.hebrewunion.org/aboutus/history/
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Great interior photos! Thank you for sharing them and the link to the photo of the earlier temple. The site said the earlier building was made it to two residences on Campbell street. I wonder if they are still there? They would be easy to spot if they still had those towers.
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I drove down the street and didn’t seen anything might have been the original Temple. I asked the Temple Museum and was told the old Temple structure(s) hadn’t been on Campell Street in “many many years.” So, they’ve been gone for at least 50 years. But the Temple Museum and the Greenville History Museum have great photos of the original.
Campbell St. pic link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jSgqRcUAnHvQ_AbP7ab3t4M-af-XrGoVQSX5UsJY2EM?feat=directlink
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Thats too bad they are gone. I tried searching the Sanborn maps but my lack of knowledge about Greenville slowed me down. Someone with more patience and understanding of the area might have more luck than myself identifying where the temple parts might have been moved to.
Thanks for digging deeper.
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Greenville — I don’t have ready access to MS Sanborn Maps and I didn’t find anything in my cursory search of the Greenville papers in newspaperarchive.com, so my search has (probably) concluded.
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Haha one of my early difficulties. You were able to come up with a lot more that I was. Thanks!
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In Clarksdale, when the Jewish Congregation grew out of its Temple, builit in 1913, a second Synagogue was built in 1929, described as in the Byzantine-style though both are no longer in service. Both still stand, 69 Delta Ave. and 401 Catapala. The Jewish Cemetary is quite large and well kept, Friars Point Road and Lee Drive.
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That’s good news that the cemetery is well kept especially considering the fact that the population is dwindling in that community. You can see a photo of the 1929 synagogue in the slide show above, in this post. Both Clarksdale synagogues have had some not so sensitive remodelings over the years. I would love to see how they looked in their prime. Especially the tower tops of the 1929 synagogue.
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