Reprinted with permission as a public service by the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier, now the Preservation Buffalo Niagara


Houses of Worship: A Guide to the Religious Architecture of Buffalo, New York
By James Napora
Table of Contents

TEMPLE AHAVATH SHOLEM - 1903
411 Jefferson Avenue (E)
Architect: A. E. Minks & Sons
Founded 1890

This is the last remaining vestige of the East Side Buffalo Jewish population. Centered on Jefferson Avenue at the close of the 19th Century, it once numbered almost l0,000. First worshipping together as group in 1890, the Congregation of the Lovers of Peace as they were also known, were formally incorporated on 21 March, 1892. At that time, they were not a very large group, but within eight years they had grown to the extent that planning commenced for a new building.

Constructed at a cost of $28,000 and seating 700 people, it was the largest synagogue on the East Side. The congregation remained active long after the population of the neighborhood had changed. They held their final services here in June, 1960.

The buff colored brick building is a landmark in the Jefferson/William Neighborhood. With its raised center entrance surmounted by a circular window, this area features finely detailed brick work capped with a cornice in the form of a blind arcade. The tower is crowned with the distinctive onion-dome.

The Jewish Community Center once stood across the street in the area now occupied by the Pratt-Willert Projects.


© 1995 James Napora
Page by Chuck LaChiusa with the assistance of David Torke
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