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First Mill Street Synagogue

Historic purpose-built synagogue of Congregation Shearith Israel, consecrated in Lower Manhattan on 8 April 1730.

Mill Street / South William Street, Lower Manhattan, New York City, United StatesFounded 1730

Historic depiction of the First Mill Street Synagogue

About

The First Mill Street Synagogue was the first purpose-built home of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City. Before 1730, New York's Jewish community worshiped in private or rented spaces, including houses on Beaver Street and Mill Street. As the congregation grew, it erected a dedicated synagogue building on Mill Street in Lower Manhattan. The synagogue was consecrated on the seventh day of Passover, 8 April 1730. Congregation Shearith Israel describes it as the first structure in continental North America designed and built specifically as a synagogue. The original building no longer survives, but its history is commemorated at the modern South William Street site and through surviving ritual objects associated with the 1730 synagogue.

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Records held by First Mill Street Synagogue

Historical depiction of the First Mill Street Synagogue, New York City, consecrated 8 April 1730.

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · SynagoguesFirst

First Purpose-Built Synagogue in What Is Now the United States

Record holder

First Mill Street Synagogue

Record value

8 April 1730

Congregation Shearith Israel, founded by the first permanent Jewish community in New Amsterdam, worshiped for decades in private or rented quarters before building a dedicated synagogue. On 8 April 1730, the seventh day of Passover, the congregation consecrated its First Mill Street Synagogue in Lower Manhattan. Shearith Israel describes it as the first structure in continental North America designed and built specifically to be a synagogue. The Library of Congress likewise identifies the 1730 Mill Street building as America's first synagogue. The original structure no longer survives; the site is associated today with South William Street in the Financial District. JWR uses the exact consecration date and a present-day United States scope.

Holder country: United States
Achievement location: New York City, New York, United States
Achievement date: 8 April 1730

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