{"nrhp_refnum":"86003687","name":"Temple Beth-El","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"208 S. Fifteenth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Corsicana","county":"Navarro County","state":"TX","lat":32.08952882800003,"lon":-96.46855701499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-02-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Temple Beth-El is a two-story wooden frame synagogue at 208 S. 15th Street in Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas, built in 1898-1900 in the Moorish Revival style. Its architect and builder are unknown.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the building is one of the few surviving examples of Moorish Revival architecture in Texas and the Southwest, notable for its twin towers topped with onion domes. It also commemorates Corsicana's once thriving Jewish community, whose Reform congregation worshipped there for more than eighty years.","narrative":"Temple Beth-El is a wooden synagogue at 208 S. 15th Street in Corsicana, Texas, constructed between 1898 and 1900 for a newly chartered Reform congregation. Its front facade is flanked by twin three-story towers capped with painted tin onion domes, and ogee-arched windows repeat around the building, suggesting the shape of a candle. The nomination describes it as a modest rural example of the Moorish Revival synagogues common in European cities and in the United States until the 1920s. Two similar East Texas synagogues, in Marshall and Palestine, have been demolished. The building also records the story of Corsicana's Jewish community, which arrived with the railroad in 1871, peaked during the 1920s oil boom, and then declined. By 1982 fewer than ten families remained and the congregation disbanded. The Navarro County Historical Society bought the deteriorated building that year, restored the exterior, and began rehabilitating the interior for community use.","period_of_significance":"1898-1900","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Moorish Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Listed as vacant at the time of nomination. The Navarro County Historical Society acquired it in 1982, exterior restoration was largely complete, and interior rehabilitation was ongoing.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:20.879583-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/82/9730/40973082/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/86003687.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003687/0edf14a4d5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003687/0edf14a4d5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Temple_beth_el_corsicana_2010.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_beth_el_corsicana_2010.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973082","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Beth-El_(Corsicana,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7698453"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/navarro-county/temple-beth-el-86003687/"}