{"nrhp_refnum":"02000308","name":"Beth David Synagogue","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"E. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Amenia","county":"Dutchess County","state":"NY","lat":41.850371583000026,"lon":-73.55245314099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-04-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","European"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small, one-story brick synagogue built in 1929 on the south side of East Main Street in the hamlet of Amenia, Dutchess County, New York.","why_significant":"It is significant in architecture as an intact example of an early 20th century synagogue in Dutchess County. It is also significant in ethnic heritage for its link to a small, remote rural Jewish community, founded by Russian immigrant families who moved to Amenia from Connecticut.","narrative":"Beth David Synagogue is a small brick house of worship on East Main Street in Amenia, Dutchess County, New York. Built in 1929, it has a hollow tile structure with tapestry brick veneer, cast stone trim, brick corner pilasters and tall arched windows, with modest Georgian-inspired details. Inside, the sanctuary follows orthodox tradition, with a central bemah, pews facing the ark and a balcony that once provided separate seating for women. Its builder is unknown. The congregation grew from roughly a dozen Russian immigrant families who first settled in Ellsworth, Connecticut, and moved to Amenia by the 1920s for its schools, electricity and rail service. They laid the cornerstone on April 5, 1929, on land donated by Bessie and Harry Rosenson. Membership fell after the summer boarding houses closed, and the congregation moved from orthodox to conservative and then reform practice. A gable roof added around 1960 covers the original flat roof. The building is still in use and remains the central symbol of the area's Jewish community.","period_of_significance":"1929 - c. 1950","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"no style (simple, with modest Georgian-inspired decorative features)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a synagogue; the interior is virtually intact, and the original flat roof survives beneath a c. 1960 gable roof.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.708056-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/02000308.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000308/94bca016ab-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000308/94bca016ab-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daniel Case","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_Beth_David,_Amenia,_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Case</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_Beth_David,_Amenia,_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317303","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beth_David_Synagogue_(Amenia,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4897478"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/dutchess-county/beth-david-synagogue-02000308/"}