'Shaarai Shomayim' historical marker in Mobile, Ala. |
This week’s featured historical marker is the “SHAARAI
SHOMAYIM” marker in Mobile County, Ala. This marker is located on the south
side of Government Street, in front of the Hardee’s Restaurant, near the corner
of South Warren Street in Mobile, Ala.
This marker was erected by the Historic Mobile Preservation
Society, the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation and the
Institute of the Southern Jewish Life. Unlike most historical markers of this
type, there’s nothing on it to indicate when it was erected, but the marker
looks relatively new. There’s text on both sides of the marker, but both sides
are the same. What follows in the complete text from the marker:
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“SHAARAI SHOMAYIM – First Jewish House of Worship in Alabama
– 1846: Jews have been part of Alabama’s economic, social and political life
since 1764. It was not until 1841 that Mobile’s small Jewish community grew
large enough to organize ‘Congregation’ Shaarai Shomayim (Gates of Heaven). The
community dedicated a small building on St. Emanuel St., between Church and
Government Streets, Dec. 27, 1846, as the first Jewish house of worship in
Alabama. Shaarai Shomayim moved to a larger location on Jackson St., between
St. Louis and St. Michael Streets, in 1853. The structure burned in 1856 but
was quickly rebuilt through the combined ecumenical efforts of Christians and
Jews in 1858.
“Shaarai Shomayim, affirmed in Alabama, the American
principles of freedom of religion, assembly and the commonality of communities
of faith.”
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A number of things jumped out at me about this marker,
especially the first line, which indicates that Jews have been a part of
Alabama history since 1764. Why did they pick that particular year? Is that
when the first documented Jew arrived on what would one day become the state of
Alabama?
The marker also says that the first Jewish house in Alabama
was built on St. Emanuel Street in the 1840s, between Government Street and
Church Street. If you try to pinpoint this location on a modern map, you may
have a hard time. Present-day Emanuel Street runs for most of its length
parallel to both Government and Church Street, that is, no point along its
length is between Government and Church. The end of St. Emanuel Street comes to
an end about half a mile from present-day Church Street, so my feeling is that
some time in the past, changes to the city’s landscape, including the addition
of Interstate Highway 10 through downtown Mobile, have made it hard to find the
old church’s location on a modern map.
Being a native of Monroe County, it’s also hard for me to
read this marker and not think about the thriving Jewish community that once
existed in the heyday of Old Claiborne. A Jewish cemetery remains in that old
ghost town still today, and some of the headstones in that cemetery predate
1846. Of course, this leads me to wonder where Claiborne’s Jews held their
worship services. Was there a Jewish house of worship at Old Claiborne that
predated the old in Mobile?
In the end, visit this site next Wednesday to learn about
another historical marker. I’m also taking suggestions from the reading
audience, so if you know of an interesting historical marker that you’d like me
to feature, let me know in the comments section below.
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