Temple Beth-El

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The story of Temple Beth-El in Corsicana, Navarro County, starts the way a lot of good Texas stories start: with a railroad. The year was 1871, and when those rail lines were built out to the area, the earliest Jewish settlers arrived right along with them.

You don't wander into a place like that by accident. You follow the iron rails, and you put down roots. And that's exactly what they did.

For nearly three decades, Corsicana's Jewish community grew and built and contributed to that city's life in ways the marker calls, simply, many significant contributions to the city's growth and development. I'd say that's modest phrasing for what was clearly a serious presence. Then came 1898, and a group of reformed Jews made it official.

They established Temple Beth-El. Two years after that, they built the house of worship that still stands today. Now here's where the story earns its second look, because this is not just a box with a steeple.

This building has two octagonal towers, and those towers are crowned with onion-shaped domes. Out on the Texas prairie, in a town most folks know for oil and cotton, those domes catch the light in a way that makes you stop the car. The Temple stands now as a reminder of a rich heritage, the marker says, and I believe it.

Some buildings carry their history quietly. This one wears it proud, right up there on those towers, for anyone with eyes to see.

What the marker says

The earliest Jewish settlers in Corsicana arrived in 1871, the year rail lines were built to the area. In 1898 a group of reformed Jews established Temple Beth-El. Two years later they built this house of worship, which features two distinctive octagonal towers with onion-shaped domes. Corsicana's Jewish residents have made many significant contributions to the city's growth and development, and the Temple now serves as a reminder of their rich heritage. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981