WILLIAMSON, W.Va. – For 90 years the B’nai Israel Temple has sat on College Hill over-looking the city of Williamson, for more than 82 of those years it was the gathering place for worship services, weddings and many social gatherings, and in May of 2009 the doors to the synagogue were closed forever.
Back in the early 1900’s the majority of the business owners in the city were of Jewish faith and with no official place to worship, many were holding services in their homes, sometime around 1920 Hyman Banks, owner of the Cinderella Theater offered the use of the basement in the theater to be used as a place of worship. In the mid 1920’s the property on College Hill was donated by Williamson Mining and Manufacturing Company for the synagogue to be built.
In an article found on the website smallsynagogues.com, the author Sherry Zander writes “Williamson’s Congregation B’nai Israel is the most difficult place I have ever photographed because it is literally wedged into the mountain, its front facing away from the street. A cherry picker would be required to capture it completely. To approach, one must climb dozens of extremely steep concrete steps, an insurmountable task if it’s icy. The small parking lot, an absolute necessity here, is situated another level below the street, requiring careful crossing of the nearly hairpin turn in which the temple sits. If Rapunzel were Jewish, this would be her hard-to-reach tower.”
Construction on the synagogue was started in 1925 and was completed in 1927. The dedication of the Temple was by Rabbi Feinstein, the congregation’s first Rabbi.
The structure underwent a remodel in the late 1950’s in order to accommodate the growing number of families it had begun to serve. During this time the congregation was extremely large with upwards to 80 families meeting.
60 years later the once magnificent structure is still standing, however the intricate details have been destroyed by vandals and the once beautiful stained glass windows have been broken. The building which was acquired a few years ago by a private company now stands abandoned.
The congregation’s size peaked in the early 1960’s and the number of members continued to increase into the late 90’s, with at least a dozen or more of the synagogue attendees being merchants in the city. Some of the businesses owned by Jewish residents were Albert’s Army/Navy Store, B and L Furniture, Brown’s Dress Shop, Caplan’s Furniture, Cinderella Boot Shop, Cinderella Theater, Freeds Gift Shop, Schwachter’s, Taylor’s Jewelry and United Clothing.
Debbie Hess, whose family owned Taylor’s Jewelry, told a reporter from the Associated Press in 2009 “Some of the shops went out of business and some were sold, while other business owners retired and moved to warmer climates. Their children went away to college and didn’t come back, which in returned caused some of the parents to eventually move from the area also.”
In May of 2009 Rabbi Wucher of Huntington, W.Va. presided at the closing ceremony. When the last service was held, the congregation had dwindled to around eight families.
On October 9, 2016 a dedication service was held at the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for a permanent memorial to the Jewish Temple and the congregation, items in the memorial include The Sanctuary Lamp or the “Ner Tamid”, the cornerstones, a couple of small stained glass windows and the tablets of the Ten Commandments, which once rested at the front entrance of the temple. Members of St. Paul’s said they decided something needed to be done to preserve the items because of the importance of the many contributions the Jewish community had offered to the area.
Although, the number of synagogues have increased as a whole across the nation, sadly the majority of the smaller ones are now a faded memory.
The B’nai Israel Temple on College Hill near the old Williamson Memorial Hospital has set empty for nearly eight years.
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The B’nai Israel Temple on College Hill near the old Williamson Memorial Hospital has set empty for nearly eight years.
The sanctuary of the B’nai Israel Temple has been one of the rooms in the temple which has been vandalized over the past few years.
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The sanctuary of the B’nai Israel Temple has been one of the rooms in the temple which has been vandalized over the past few years.
Remembering the old B’nai Jewish Temple in Williamson
By Kendra Mahon
kmahon@civitasmedia.com
Kendra Mahon is a reporter for the Williamson Daily News and can be contacted at kmahon@civitasmedia.com or 304-235-4242 ext 2278.