{"nrhp_refnum":"85002413","name":"B'Nai Jacob Synagogue","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Nissley & Water Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Middletown","county":"Dauphin County","state":"PA","lat":40.196684504000075,"lon":-76.73444262399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-09-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story brick house of worship in Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, built in 1906 as B'Nai Jacob Synagogue on a small tract at the northwestern edge of the town's late 19th-century neighborhoods.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the oldest building erected as a synagogue and continuously operated as one in Dauphin County, and the only synagogue in Central Pennsylvania built to meet orthodox requirements of Mosaic Law. Its interior layout, including a central Bimah and separate seating for men and women, is presented as a rare survival of orthodox practice, and the building is said to have remained largely unchanged since construction.","narrative":"Built in 1906 in Middletown, B'Nai Jacob Synagogue is a one-story brick house of worship with a gabled front, pointed-arch windows with leaded stained glass, and a circular window topped by a Star of David. Its Gothic Revival exterior was intended to blend with the Protestant churches common in the town. Inside, the auditorium keeps original brass fixtures, wainscoting, carved balcony railings, and a central Bimah, with separate seating for women in the balcony and men on the main floor. The congregation's charter members designed and built it, and the building is regarded as the oldest synagogue in Dauphin County in continuous use. Its interior arrangement is considered rare in the United States, since many congregations later moved the Bimah to the front. The building is significant for its religion and architecture, preserving a small-town orthodox Jewish community's place of worship.","period_of_significance":"1906","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Document states the synagogue has been maintained by a small number of heirs of the original congregation and continues to be used for worship.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:13:25.880792-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/85002413.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002413/80e14959dd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002413/80e14959dd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Foggymorning","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BNai_Jacob_Synagogue_Middletown_PA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Foggymorning</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:BNai_Jacob_Synagogue_Middletown_PA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996524","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%27nai_Jacob_Synagogue_(Middletown,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4833623"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/dauphin-county/bnai-jacob-synagogue-85002413/"}