Site of Temple Moses Montefiore

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. Back in 1887, Jewish residents of the Marshall area came together and organized a congregation. They called it Adath Israel, the Moses Montefiore congregation.

And the man they chose as their first president was Daniel Doppelmayer, a Civil War veteran, one of the pioneer Jewish settlers of that part of Texas. Now Doppelmayer brought something to that first gathering beyond just his name on a membership roll. He brought a suggestion.

He proposed that the congregation take its name to honor Sir Moses Montefiore, the noted Jewish financier and philanthropist of England. Sir Moses had lived from 1784 to 1885, a life that left a mark felt far beyond England, and clearly all the way down to East Texas. The congregation took Doppelmayer's suggestion, and the name held.

The congregation worshipped and gathered and grew, and then in 1900 they decided it was time to build something worthy of what they'd built together. Under the direction of President Ike Hochwald, a temple was constructed right here on this site. The architect was a local man, C.

G. Lancaster, and the firm of Sonnefield and Emmons did the building. What they put up was not plain.

Not even close. The design featured an elaborate middle eastern architectural style, something that must have stopped people in their tracks on a Marshall street at the turn of the century. For decades that temple stood as more than a house of worship.

It was a center of cultural and civic activity for the whole community. Members and rabbis didn't keep to themselves. They helped shape the civic, business, and cultural character of Marshall itself.

That tradition of community leadership, the marker tells us, was begun by those pioneer Jewish residents who moved to the area when it was first being settled. The temple served all of that purpose until 1973, when it was razed. The building is gone.

The site is what remains, and this marker. But the congregation that met in that elaborately styled hall, the one Daniel Doppelmayer helped name after a man he admired, left contributions that still serve as reminders of their influence on Marshall. The building came down, but what was built inside it, the character of a community, that's still standing.

What the marker says

In 1887 Jewish residents of the Marshall area organized the Moses Montefiore congregation, Adath Israel. Daniel Doppelmayer, a Civil War veteran and one of the pioneer Jewish settlers of the area, was selected as the first president. At his suggestion, the congregational name was chosen to honor Sir Moses Montefiore (1784-1885), the noted Jewish financier and philanthropist of England. In 1900, under the direction of President Ike Hochwald, a temple was constructed at this site. Designed by the local architect C. G. Lancaster and built by the firm of Sonnefield and Emmons, it featured an elaborate middle eastern architectural style. The structure served as the congregation's place of worship and as a center of the community's cultural and civic activity until 1973, when it was razed. The Moses Montefiore congregation was founded on a tradition of community leadership, which was begun by pioneer Jewish residents who moved here when the area was first settled. Members and rabbis of the temple continue to play a vital role in the development of Marshall. Their contributions now serve as reminders of their influence on the civic, business and cultural character of the city.