Old Beth Israel Synagogue (Greenville, South Carolina)

For similarly named synagogues, see Beth Israel.

Beth Israel Synagogue (former)
Former Beth Israel Synagogue in 2020 after being repurposed as a private residence.
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism (1930 – 1957) Christianity (1959 – 1988)
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Synagogue (1930 – 1957) Church (1959 – 1988)
Status	Closed and deconsecrated Commercial (1988 – 2004) Residential (since 2015)
Location
Location	307 Townes Street, Greenville, South Carolina
Country	United States
Location in South Carolina
Geographic coordinates	34°51′29″N 82°23′52″W
Architecture
Architect(s)	Joseph G. Cunningham
Type	Synagogue
Style	Classical Revival
Date established	1910 (Jewish congregation)
Completed	1930 (1930)
Materials	Brick; stone trim
Beth Israel Synagogue
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The former synagogue, in 2015
Area	less than one acre
NRHP reference No.	16000292
Added to NRHP	May 23, 2016

The Old Beth Israel Synagogue is a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 307 Townes Street in the Stone Avenue neighborhood of Greenville, South Carolina, in the United States.

The historical former synagogue building, after being repurposed as a church and later commercial building, is now used as a private residence.

Description

The historic building is a single-story Classical Revival brick building with stone trim. It was the first Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Greenville, and was designed by Joseph Cunningham, a local architect, and built in 1929-30 for a congregation founded in 1910. The congregation moved to a larger space in 1957.

Grace Evangelical Methodist Church moved into the building in 1959, and its name remains above the entrance arch. In 1964, the building became the home of the Greenville Labor Temple Cooperative; and in 1977, Faith Tabernacle Apostolic Church bought the building and held its first service there in May 1978.

A photo studio bought the building in 1988 and sold it in 2004. Although the building was originally located in a residential area, commercial development and urban renewal isolated it, and it was abandoned in 2010. In 2015 the building was restored and repurposed as a private residence for the local entrepreneurs Melinda Lehman and Terry Iwaskiw. No evidence of the building's use as a synagogue remains except for a small brick-and-tile Star of David on either side of the parapet.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Greenville, South Carolina