PlaceJewish Eligibility — Verified by JWR

Former B’nai Israel Temple

Historic Salt Lake City synagogue building completed around 1890 and now home to the Salt Lake Art Museum.

Salt Lake City, Utah, United StatesFounded 1891

slc.history / Wikimedia CommonsSourceCC BY-SA 3.0

About

B'nai Israel Temple was constructed in Salt Lake City in 1890–1891 for Congregation B'nai Israel and was dedicated in 1891. The congregation used the building until 1973, when Jewish worship moved elsewhere after the community's institutional reorganization. The historic structure later underwent adaptive reuse. Since July 2026 it has housed the Salt Lake Art Museum, Utah's museum dedicated to Utah art and artists. The building therefore survives as a former synagogue whose current cultural use is explicitly documented. Historic Salt Lake City synagogue building completed around 1890 and now home to the Salt Lake Art Museum. In Jewish World Records, Former B’nai Israel Temple is connected to the record “Oldest Building in Utah Originally Built as a Synagogue,” based on the stored achievement of Built in 1890.

Public links

saltlakeartmuseum.org

Records held by Former B’nai Israel Temple

B’nai Israel Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah

JWR Verified

Jewish Heritage · SynagoguesOldest

Oldest Building in Utah Originally Built as a Synagogue

Record holder

Former B’nai Israel Temple

Record value

Built in 1890

The oldest building in Utah originally built as a synagogue is the former B’nai Israel Temple in Salt Lake City, with a record value of 'Built in 1890'. According to National Register documentation, the structure was purpose-built as a synagogue between 1890 and 1891 and was dedicated in 1891. While the congregation had an earlier synagogue property from 1883, that building was replaced and no longer survives. The record is therefore determined by a documentary comparison of surviving purpose-built synagogue buildings in Utah, which found no earlier qualifying structure still standing.

Country: United States
Achievement location: Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Achievement date: 1891

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