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Looking south on
Eagle street, about 400 feet west of East 9th Street, ca 1928
In 1887
Anshe Chesed sold its Eagle Street
synagogue building, Cleveland's first synagogue building, constructed
in 1846,
to Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, which left it in 1906, ending the
building's life as a synagogue.
Around 1928 we see the building, then 82 years old, in this aerial view
of Eagle Avenue (in the great renaming of Cleeland's streets in 1906, Eagle Street became Eagle Avenue), sent to us by Drew Penfield who wrote:
I found the
Cleveland Jewish History website and your history of
the Eagle Street Synagogue while doing research on
the Lake Shore Electric Railway for my own website
www.lakeshorerailmaps.com.
The railway had a large freight terminal on Eagle
Avenue and I recently discovered that the synagogue had
a part in that. Around 1927 the synagogue was converted
for use as a freight depot. That use continued to
1932. Not a very dignified use
for Cleveland’s first Jewish temple but historical
fact nonetheless. I’ve attached two
photos which show rail sidings and a small dock on
the east side of the synagogue. The sign on the
building attached to the west side reads “Lake Shore
Electric Ry. System – inbound freight terminal.” I have not been able to find how long the
building survived. Some of the freight buildings
were demolished in the 1930’s. From a 1952 aerial
photo we know that the site was then a parking lot
and would have been one until 1992 when the construction of Jacobs Field began.
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Drew Penfield had received the photograph from local historian Dennis Lamont.
Though this building had an undignified end, the two congregations
that had used it were thriving. At the time of the above photo
(say 1928):
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Reform congregation Anshe Chesed,
now called Euclid Avenue
Temple and led by Rabbi Barnett Bricker was on Euclid
Avenue at East 82 Street.
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Conservative congregation B'nai Jeshurun,
now known as Heights Temple and led by Rabbi Abraham
Novak, was on Mayfield Road east of Lee Road in Cleveland
Heights.
If a marker to honor the location
of this building on Eagle Street was to be erected today, it would be in center
field at Progressive Field.
Learn more about:
Eagle Avenue Freight House
Eagle Street Synagogue
Anshe Chesed
B'nai Jeshurun
The Temple |