Richland County · Marker 40-151
Israelite Sunday School
Assembly St., between Taylor and Hampton Sts., Columbia
Front inscription
The Israelite Sunday School, the first Jewish religious school in Columbia, met in a building on this site until 1865. It had been founded in 1843 to give Jewish children of the city “an intimate ... and full exposition of our faith.” Supported by the Columbia Hebrew Benevolent Society, the school had 20-30 students when it was organized in a nearby building, in space donated by a member of the society.
Columbia's First Synagogue
In 1846 the Columbia Hebrew Benevolent Society built a frame building on this site for the Israelite Sunday School, which met on the first floor. The society also organized the first formal congregation in Columbia, which they named Shearith Israel (Remnant of Israel), with its synagogue on the second floor. The building burned when Gen. William T. Sherman’s Federals captured the city in February 1865.