Mar 27, 2015 By Suzanne Elliott 3 min read

Jews in Western Pennsylvania and the central part of the Commonwealth can be traced back to the 1840s, according to Julian H. Preisler, author of “The Synagogues of Central and Western Pennsylvania, A Visual Journey.”

Preisler, a West Virginia genealogist specializing in Jewish history, took a year to write the book – his sixth – because of the beauty of the local synagogues and the history behind the ones that no longer exist, he said.

“Documentation of our built environment through photographs, artifacts, drawings, et cetera, is extremely important,” Preisler said in an email. “Saving structures is my preference, but when that is not possible to do, it is even more important to make sure history is not lost.”

“I made every attempt to include all the synagogues (both current and former) that I could physically locate,” Preisler said. “Because of historical value, I decided to include some demolished synagogues as well.”

Allegheny County synagogues visited by Preisler and documented in his book include Beth El Congregation of Scott Township and Temple Emanuel of the South Hills in Mt. Lebanon. In his book, Preisler said Beth El, a conservative synagogue, was founded in 1916. It originally was in Beechview and moved to Scott in 1962. It houses a number of memorial plagues, furniture and artifacts from a number of closed synagogues.

Temple Emanuel, meanwhile, a reform congregation, was formed in 1951 to serve Jewish families moving into the South Hills. The original synagogue was built between 1953 and 1960, and was renovated and expanded in 1990 and 2003. It also has a Holocaust Memorial Garden and its Ark is a contemporary piece of artwork done in metal.

A Jewish community was organized in Canonsburg in 1905 with the formation of B’nai Israel, which later became Tree of Life Congregation on Ashland Avenue. The building was demolished in 1980, he said.

Congregation Beth El in Washington, Preisler said, is now the only active congregation in Washington County. Its present synagogue on North Avenue was dedicated in 1955. The building was designed by Alexander Sharove, who planned a number of synagogues throughout Western Pennsylvania.

While doing the research for this book, Preisler said he knew Pennsylvania had some of the oldest Jewish communities in the country.

“But, I did not realize the existence of so many small town synagogues, past and present and the wealth of architecture,” he said. “I also discovered that Pittsburgh has a number of architecturally and historically significant synagogues.”

“As I photographed many old synagogues in the small former industrial boroughs and cities in the region, I was pleased to see so many of them still standing. It would be nice to see these structures marked to document their past use as synagogues,” he said. “This is especially true in small towns that no longer have a local Jewish Community.”

Preisler’s book is published by Fonthill Media. It is available on Amazon.com and bn.com. For more information, visit www.jpreisler.com.