-
(Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie)
The Lloyd Street synagogue, a Greek Revival temple-front building, was the first purpose-built synagogue in Maryland, erected for the original Baltimore Hebrew Congregation from which all others sprang forth, and the third-oldest synagogue in the country. It is distinguished by its massive portico of fluted Doric columns and a stained glass window depicting the Star of David, the first appearance on the exterior of an American synagogue. As dictated by Jewish tradition, the interior includes flanking balconies for women, and in the basement are ritual baths and ovens for baking Passover bread. The east end was later extended thirty feet.
In 1891, the congregation built another synagogue, selling this building in 1905 to the Jewish Guardians of the Sacred Heritage. By the 1950s, the congregation had dwindled, and the building was threatened with demolition. In response, the Jewish Historical Society was formed; the synagogue was restored and in 1960 was rededicated as the Jewish Museum of Maryland, interpreting the Jewish experience in America with the emphasis on Maryland. The museum utilizes both this and the neighboring B’nai Israel synagogue built for the Chizuk Amuno Congregation, or Defenders of the Faith, a High Victorian Gothic building with Romanesque and Moorish touches.