Chicago’s Shifting Synagogue Landscape
Gallery of Chicago Synagogues
Photographic evidence of Chicago's earliest synagogues is uneven. In some cases, photographs exist but ownership of the original images is unclear. Additional images, many of which are under copyright and cannot be reproduced here, are available in Robert A. Packer Chicago's Forgotten Synagogues (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pulishing, 2007).
The date ranges below refer to when particular synagogue communities occupied the buildings. In some cases, synagogues sold buildings to other Jewish groups, meaning that one building housed different synagogues at different points in time.
Beth Hamidrash Hagadol Ubuai Jacob, 1867-1886; 1888-1902
Beth Hamidrash Haggadol Ub'nai, 1902-1924
B'nai Abraham, 1892-1919
B'nai Abraham Zion, 1919-1957
B'nai Shalom, 1864-1871
B'nai Shalom, 1871-1886
B'nai Shalom, 1914-1924
Kehilath Anshe Maariv, 1875-1890; Kehilath B'nai Sholom, 1890-1906
Kehilath Anshe Ma'ariv Synagogue, 1891-1920
North Chicago Hebrew Congregation, 1892-1909
Ohave Shalom Mariampol, 1870-1905
Ohave Shalom Mariampol Synagogue, 1905-1916; Anshe Shalom Synagogue, 1916-1924
Sinai Reform Congregation, 1872-1911
Sinai Reform Congregation, 1912-1940
Temple Israel, 1896-1906; B'nai Shalom Temple Israel, 1906-1913
Temple Shalom, 1909-1930
Temple Zion, 1885-1919