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Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights

Coordinates: 40°51′13″N 73°56′15″W / 40.85361°N 73.93750°W / 40.85361; -73.93750
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Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights
(formerly Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist)
Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights is located in New York City
Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights
Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights is located in New York
Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights
Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights is located in the United States
Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights
Location551 Fort Washington Avenue, New York, New York
Coordinates40°51′13″N 73°56′15″W / 40.85361°N 73.93750°W / 40.85361; -73.93750
Built1932
ArchitectWilliam John Cherry and Herbert E. Matz of the Cherry & Matz firm
Architectural styleArt Deco
WebsiteHebrew Tabernacle Congregation
NRHP reference No.11000620[1]
Added to NRHPAugust 31, 2011

The Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights is an historic domed Art Deco style building. It is located at 551 Fort Washington Avenue, corner of 185th Street, in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is a Reform synagogue.[2]

History

Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights, 2013

Designed by architects Cherry & Matz of Manhattan, the building was built during the years 1931 to 1932 at 551 Fort Washington Avenue, across from Bennett Park on West 185th Street.[3] It is Art Deco, with a bold and chalky limestone facade, with stainless steel and brass.[3][4]

It was built as Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist, founded in 1896 as West Side Church of Christ, Scientist, to replace its Solon Spencer Beman designed Neoclassical building at West 178th Street and Fort Washington Avenue, which it had sold to provide land for the George Washington Bridge.

The Hebrew Tabernacle Congregation purchased the building in 1973, as the church faced a dwindling congregation and increasing costs, and it became a synagogue. The Hebrew Tabernacle Congregation, founded in 1905 in Harlem by German-Jewish founders, had outgrown its 1920s building on West 161st Street between Broadway and Fort Washington Avenue.[5] Fourth Church is no longer in existence.[6]

As of 1982, many of the synagogue's members had come to New York in the 1930s as Jewish refugees from central Europe, and it had 500 families as members.[7] It is a Reform synagogue, and a member of the Union for Reform Judaism.[8]

On August 31, 2011, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[9][10]

Notable members of the Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights

See also

References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ a b David W. Dunlap (2004). From Abyssinian to Zion; A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship
  4. ^ Norval White, Elliot Willensky, Fran Leadon (2010). AIA Guide to New York City
  5. ^ Kerry M. Olitzky, Marc Lee Raphael (1996). The American Synagogue; A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook
  6. ^ The Christian Science Journal, February, 2007, p. 110
  7. ^ "Hebrew Tabernacle Marking 75th Anniversary". The New York Times. May 2, 1982.
  8. ^ [2]
  9. ^ Tony Robbins, New York Parks: Draft NRHP nomination form
  10. ^ "National Park Service: NRHP weekly listings dated September 9, 2011".