Marker Logo HMdb.org THE HISTORICAL
MARKER DATABASE
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Middletown in Middlesex County, Connecticut — The American Northeast (New England)
 

Congregation Adath Israel

 
 
Congregation Adath Israel Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Michael Herrick, April 18, 2016
1. Congregation Adath Israel Marker
Inscription.
Rose Schwartzbuch had been in the United States seven years when she married Harry L. Shapiro in 1911, one of the first weddings to be held at Middletown's newly formed Congregation Adath Israel, then located on Union Street. The bridal couple, like those attending their nuptial celebration, was part of a wave of primarily Polish and Russian Jews who immigrated to Middletown between 1895 and 1920 seeking religious freedom and economic opportunity.

Before 1900, few Jews lived in Connecticut. During the Colonial era Congregationalism reigned, and the state's constitution did not explicitly grant Jews the right to organize into religious societies until 1843. By the mid-1800s, Jewish immigrants from Germany and Austria-Hungary began arriving in Middletown in small numbers, followed by a large influx from Eastern Europe at the end of the century.

Some of those first Eastern Europeans settled first in Portland, attracted to the work available at the town's Eastern Tinware Company, which actively recruited workers as they arrived at Ellis Island. The first shul, or synagogue, was housed in a commercial building in Portland. But Middletown's thriving economy soon lured most of the Portland Jews across the river. By 1905, a vibrant community of 80 families developed in the South End, where Jewish owned grocery shops, bakeries,
Paid Advertisement
Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.
Click or scan to see
this page online
and dry goods stores dotted Sumner, Union, and South streets.

These immigrant Jewish families worshiped in private homes and rented rooms until Connecticut's General Assembly approved the incorporation of Congregation Adath Israel in 1905. Three years later, the congregation purchased its first permanent home, a former two-family house on Union Street. Close to homes and businesses, the location allowed members of the congregation to walk to services on the Sabbath, according to Orthodox Jewish law. The dedication in 1929 of this synagogue anchoring South Green's northwest corner firmly established Judaism as a partner in the city’s diverse religious community.

With a traditional chupa over their heads, Jewish immigrants Rose Schwartzbuch and Harry Shapiro exchange wedding vows in 1911 surrounded by fellow members of the Congregation Adath Israel. According to Orthodox custom, during religious services women were seated in the balcony separate from the men on the main floor. Adath Israel joined the Conservative movement in 1942.
Photo Courtesy of Muriel Shapiro Schulman

The Trolley
Making its appearance in the 1890s, the electric-powered streetcar made it possible for Middletonians for the first time to move about easily and cheaply. People crowded different trolley lines to get around town and to enjoy themselves
Congregation Adath Israel image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Michael Herrick, April 18, 2016
2. Congregation Adath Israel
at the popular Lakeview Park, now Crystal Lake, where the trolley company operated an amusement hall. They also could make trolley connections to Hartford, Berlin and Meriden.

For this scenic view of the trolley making its way around south Green, an unknown artist added snow and other wintery elements to a photograph taken in summer. The retouched image was printed as a postcard in 1908.

South Green & The Sabbath
For centuries, Middletown residents of many faiths have chosen to build their houses of worship in this neighborhood around South Green.

In 1741, more than 4,000 people jammed the green to hear minister George Whitfield preach the ecstasies of salvation. Whitfield and Connecticut native Jonathan Edwards were two of the leaders of the Great Awakening, a passionate evangelical movement which challenged the authority of the Congregational Church establishment. Swayed by the Great Awakening, a group of Middletown dissenters in 1747 formed the Strict Congregational Society, later known as South Congregational Church. They built their second meetinghouse in 1830 at South Green's southwest corner, and in 1867 constructed the present brick church, with its graceful spire, on the same site.

In the mid-1700s, more English settlers came to Middletown, mostly seeking economic, not religious, opportunity. Those who followed
Paid Advertisement
Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.
the Church of England, or Episcopal Church, built their first house of worship on South Green in 1755. The present Episcopal Church, the Church of the Holy Trinity now stands on Main Street.

On South Green's north side stands the First United Methodist Church, a stately granite structure built in 1931. It is the congregation's fourth church on the site; Middletown's Methodist Society built it’s first house of worship here in 1804.

The Episcopal Church as it looked when it was located on the South Green.
 
Erected by the Middlesex County Historical Society.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Churches & Religion.
 
Location. 41° 33.38′ N, 72° 38.961′ W. Marker is in Middletown, Connecticut, in Middlesex County. Marker is at the intersection of Broad Street and Church Street, on the right when traveling north on Broad Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Middletown CT 06457, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Danforth Pewter Shop (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Henry Clay Work (about 300 feet away); Middletown Soldiers Monument (about 400 feet away); The Abolitionist Movement (about 400 feet away); Middletown and the Civil War (about 400 feet away); Middletown (about 500 feet away); Near This Site In 1750 (about 500 feet away); The General Mansfield House (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Middletown.
 
More about this marker. Weather has affected the clarity of the text and pictures. The Middlesex County Historical Society generously aided in transcribing this marker.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on November 13, 2020. It was originally submitted on October 12, 2016, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut. This page has been viewed 308 times since then and 9 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on October 12, 2016, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut.

Share this page.  
Share on Tumblr
m=98688

CeraNet Cloud Computing sponsors the Historical Marker Database.
This website earns income from purchases you make after using our links to Amazon.com. We appreciate your support.
Paid Advertisements
Mar. 18, 2024