{"nrhp_refnum":"83003128","name":"Temple Freda","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"205 Parker St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bryan","county":"Brazos County","state":"TX","lat":30.67246596900003,"lon":-96.37502226099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-09-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Temple Freda is a single-story brick synagogue at 205 Parker Street in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas, built in 1912 for the town's small Jewish congregation. The architect and builder are unknown.","why_significant":"It was built through donations from the Jewish congregation and non-Jewish residents of Bryan, and drew worshipers from within about 100 miles. It is one of the prime Beaux Arts-influenced Classical Revival buildings in Brazos and surrounding counties, and represents one of two prevailing styles of Texas synagogues of the period. It survives with its complete original furnishings, which is rare in Texas.","narrative":"Temple Freda is a small brick synagogue at 205 Parker Street in Bryan, Texas, completed in 1912 for the town's Jewish congregation. It is a single-story, load-bearing masonry building with a buff brick front, red brick side walls, a prostyle portico with two Corinthian columns, pressed-metal trim and stained-glass windows given in memory of congregation members. Inside, it keeps its original pews, bimah, ark, menorah stands and cast-iron stoves. Merchants and families who arrived around Bryan after 1865 organized a congregation in 1890 and built the temple on land donated by J.W. English. Non-Jewish townspeople contributed money and materials including brick, wood and pipe. The building was named for Ethel Freda Kaczer, wife of the congregation's president, an unusual choice at the time. It reflects the classical strain of Texas synagogue design and is valued for its architecture, its community history and its remarkably complete furnishings. Regular worship declined after about 1958.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific date 1912)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Classical Revival with modest Beaux Arts detailing","criteria":[],"status_note":"Not in regular use at the time of nomination; Jewish worship moved to College Station around 1958, and Christian congregations without meeting places later used the building. Some water damage and slight vandalism to the ceiling noted.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.394763-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/73/9713/40971373/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/83003128.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003128/54ef9812f7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003128/54ef9812f7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_freda_2011.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_freda_2011.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971373","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Freda_(Bryan,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7698544"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/brazos-county/temple-freda-83003128/"}