{"nrhp_refnum":"09000966","name":"Kol Israel Synagogue","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"603 St. John's Place","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brooklyn","county":"Brooklyn","state":"NY","lat":40.674819823000064,"lon":-73.95776363499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-12-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Other-Ethnic","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Kol Israel Synagogue is a small two-story fieldstone and brick synagogue at 603 St. John's Place in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, built in 1928 to designs by Brooklyn architect Tobias Goldstone.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is locally significant under Criterion A for ethnic heritage and religion, as a surviving Orthodox congregation's home from a time when Brooklyn was a major Jewish population center. It is also significant under Criterion C as an intact 1920s \"tenement synagogue\" with Moorish-style ornament and an unusual leaded-glass skylight ceiling.","narrative":"Kol Israel Synagogue is a compact two-story house of worship on St. John's Place in Brooklyn's Crown Heights, completed in 1928 from designs by local architect Tobias Goldstone. Its fieldstone front has a deeply recessed entrance with three spiral-patterned colonnettes and round arches, topped by a rose window bearing a Star of David. Inside, a long, narrow sanctuary with a three-sided balcony reflects the traditional shape of a New York tenement lot. The ceiling is dominated by a large skylight of colored leaded-glass squares, unusual for such a modest building. The congregation was founded for strict Orthodox practice at a time when Orthodoxy was considered to be declining and many neighbors favored more liberal branches of Judaism. The building has served as a synagogue continuously since construction. It is valued locally as a rare surviving example of a small vernacular synagogue that adapted Moorish-style decoration, a style more often used for large synagogues, and as a record of Brooklyn's Eastern European Jewish community.","period_of_significance":"1928-1959","architect_builder":"Goldstone, Tobias","architectural_style":"No style (vernacular \"tenement synagogue\" with Moorish-style ornament)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Continuously maintained and used as a synagogue since 1928; the facade and interior are largely intact, with some original colored glass replaced by clear glass and modern balcony lighting added.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.337749-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/09000966.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000966/a1531fca69-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000966/a1531fca69-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kol_Israel_St_John%27s_Pl_Bklyn_sunny_jeh.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim.henderson</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kol_Israel_St_John%27s_Pl_Bklyn_sunny_jeh.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318429","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congregation_Kol_Israel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6426929"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/brooklyn/kol-israel-synagogue-09000966/"}