{"nrhp_refnum":"85003315","name":"Second Unitarian Church","other_names":["Temple Sinai"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"11 Charles St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brookline","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.34217000000007,"lon":-71.11896999999993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Georgian Revival church at 11 Charles Street in Brookline, Massachusetts, built in 1916 for the Second Unitarian Society and now used as Temple Sinai, a synagogue.","why_significant":"The building is a fine example of Georgian Revival ecclesiastical architecture, modeled on the Washington Church in Alexandria, Virginia. It is also tied to Temple Sinai, a Reform congregation founded in 1939 that introduced several worship and membership practices within Reform Judaism in the Boston area.","narrative":"Built in 1916 at 11 Charles Street in Brookline, this brick meetinghouse was designed by Boston architect Edwin Lewis for the Second Unitarian Society, which had been asked to leave its earlier home in Sears Chapel. The plan drew on the Washington Church in Alexandria, Virginia. Its features include a two-story portico with Ionic columns, a modillioned and dentilated pediment, round-arched windows with limestone keystones, brick quoins, and a cupola-topped tower. A local newspaper of the time praised its historic correctness. In 1944 the building was sold to Temple Sinai, a Reform Jewish congregation founded in 1939 and the first new Reform congregation in the Boston area in 84 years. The congregation is noted for several firsts in the region, including Sabbath eve services as a major worship program, consistent Bar Mitzvah practice, equal membership and voting rights for women, and family seating. The building is still used as a synagogue, with no major alterations recorded.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Edwin T. Lewis (also given as Edwin J. Lewis, Boston architect)","architectural_style":"Georgian Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Presently used as a synagogue (Temple Sinai); no major alterations recorded.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.936255-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/84/7924/63792484/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85003315.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003315/a7dbd3289d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003315/a7dbd3289d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Second_Unitarian_Church,_Coolidge_Corner_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Second_Unitarian_Church,_Coolidge_Corner_MA.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"85003322","name":"Beacon Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/beacon-street-historic-district-85003322/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792484","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Unitarian_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7443615"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/second-unitarian-church-85003315/"}