Temple Israel (Leadville, Colorado)
Temple Israel is a former synagogue, now Jewish history museum, located at 201 West 4th Street in Leadville, Colorado, in the United States. The former synagogue was erected during the summer of 1884 in less than two months. The Temple Israel building is a rare example of a frontier synagogue.
History
The small,, Carpenter Gothic structure was designed by George E. King and constructed by Robert Murdock for $4,000 on land donated by the silver baron Horace A. W. Tabor. Dedicated during services for Rosh Hashanah on September 19, 1884, the Reform synagogue served an interesting group of Jewish pioneers. Typically downtown merchants, they were an active element in the larger community as exemplified by David May, merchant and founder of the May department stores, County treasurer, vice president of the Congregation Israel, and chairman of its building committee.The congregation splintered in 1892 when the more orthodox members created Knesseth Israel. Regular services in Temple Israel ceased by 1908 and the building was entirely out of service by 1914.
Steve Malin acquired the building in 1937, stripping it of the steeples and re-roofing it. He lived with his wife and two daughters in rooms in the back whilst conducting his automobile radiator repair business in the front. During World War II, the synagogue building functioned as a dormitory/boarding house for mine workers and was sold in 1955 to the St. George Episcopal Church across West 4th Street to be their parsonage. The building returned to private ownership in 1966 and was subsequently converted into a four unit apartment house.