Beth Israel Synagogue

Front inscription

Beth Israel (House of Israel) Congregation was founded and chartered in 1905. Beaufort’s Jewish community dates before the American Revolution, but grew most rapidly from the 1880s to the 1930s as more families arrived from Eastern Europe. Services were held in private homes and later in the Masonic Hall on Bay St., with some ceremonial functions held in the Beaufort Arsenal on Craven St.

Reverse inscription

This frame synagogue was built by members of the congregation and dedicated in 1908, in ceremonies conducted by Rabbis J.J. Simonhoff of Charleston and George Solomon of Savannah. In 1910 the congregation bought a tract on Bladen St. for a cemetery that was established in 1912 and is still in use today. Founded as an Orthodox congregation, Beth Israel became a Conservative congregation in 1949.