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No, we're not talking about a bison named Herschel, who roamed the plains in search of a good bagel. :j:
(First, a disclaimer. I'm not Jewish, so please excuse me if I get any terminology wrong.)
On April 17, the Jewish Community Center of Buffalo sponsored a bus tour of Buffalo's East Side, to visit some forgotten relics of the city's early 20th century Jewish community. The tour didn't cover everything, and there are some old shuls and other sites still standing that aren't in the photos below.
In 1900, the long-established German Jewish community was assimilated and living in middle-class and upper income West Side neighborhoods, while newly arriving Russian and Polish Jews settled in the city's traditional "zone of emergence" on the Lower East Side, centered on William Street and Jefferson Avenue. As they grew in affluence, many families bought homes in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, west of Humboldt Parkway.
The Jewish presence on Buffalo's East SIde dwindled in the 1950s. The "exodus" was caused by blockbusting and racial transition in Humboldt Park, and a massive neighborhood-clearing urban renewal project on the Lower East Side. Most Russian and Polish Jews moved to the North Park neighbotrhood in Buffalo, or new suburban neighborhoods to the north in Tonawanda.
Today, about 60% of Erie County's Jewish population live in Amherst. Most of the rest reside in the city's Delaware District, Elmwood Village and North Park neighborhoods, and the eastern end of the Town of Tonawanda.
The Jefferson Avenue Shul, also called Ahavas Sholem Synagogue, is located on the east side of Jefferson Avenue, north of William Street on Buffalo's Lower East Side. The congregation left the building in the 1950s, when urban renewal destroyed much of the Lower East Side. The shul was built in 1903, and is Buffalo's oldest standing former synagogue.
Across the street from the Jefferson Avenue Shul is the former site of the Buffalo Jewish Community Center. The A.D. Price public housing project is in the background.
The surrounding neighborhood today.
Off of William Street.
Redeveloped area near William Street on Buffalo's Lower East Side.
A synagogue in Polonia? Many Jewish merchants and their families in the Broadway-Fillmore area congregated at the Fillmore Avenue Shul, also called Ahavas Achim Sunagogue. The shul is located on the east side of Fillmore Avenue, about a block north of Broadway. In 1950, Ahavas Achim merged with another East Side congregation, Anshe Lubavitz, and moved to North Buffalo.
Fillmore Avenue around the former Fillmore Avenue Shul.
Former Humboldt Orthodox Center shul on Glenwood Avenue. The building used to be a telephone company switching and operator office until it was purchased by the Orthodox Center.
Detail of the former Temple Beth David, on the east side of Humboldt Parkway in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. I couldn't get closer.
Street in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
Nearby Jefferson Avenue.
The former Temple Beth Zion is located on the east side of Richmond Street, in a healthy section of Buffalo's West Side. The congregation moved to Tonawanda in 1966, to be closer to the growing Jewish population in Amherst and the eastern section of Tonawanda. Two synagogues and a branch of the Jewish Community Center of Buffalo still remain on the West Side today.
The neighborhood surrounding the former synagogue. Richmond Street is the dividing line between the well-off Elmwood Village neighborhood, and the slowly gentrifying Upper West Side.
The most haunting stop was at the Beth Jacob Cemetery, in the city's Genesee-Moselle neighborhood, the most "keepin' it real" drug and gang-infested area ion the East Side. This was the cemetery of Temple Beth David, also known as the Clinton Street Shul, which disbanded in the 1940s or 1950s. The neighborhood was never home to a Jewish population; the cemetery was started decades ago, when its location was considered far out in the country. The last burial took place in 1970.
The surrounding neighborhood, once a blue collar, predominantly German neighborhood, experienced rapid racial and socioeconomic transition in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As the neighborhood became more dangerous, the Beth Jacob Cemetery was forgotten.
The surrounding neighborhood.
(First, a disclaimer. I'm not Jewish, so please excuse me if I get any terminology wrong.)
On April 17, the Jewish Community Center of Buffalo sponsored a bus tour of Buffalo's East Side, to visit some forgotten relics of the city's early 20th century Jewish community. The tour didn't cover everything, and there are some old shuls and other sites still standing that aren't in the photos below.
In 1900, the long-established German Jewish community was assimilated and living in middle-class and upper income West Side neighborhoods, while newly arriving Russian and Polish Jews settled in the city's traditional "zone of emergence" on the Lower East Side, centered on William Street and Jefferson Avenue. As they grew in affluence, many families bought homes in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, west of Humboldt Parkway.
The Jewish presence on Buffalo's East SIde dwindled in the 1950s. The "exodus" was caused by blockbusting and racial transition in Humboldt Park, and a massive neighborhood-clearing urban renewal project on the Lower East Side. Most Russian and Polish Jews moved to the North Park neighbotrhood in Buffalo, or new suburban neighborhoods to the north in Tonawanda.
Today, about 60% of Erie County's Jewish population live in Amherst. Most of the rest reside in the city's Delaware District, Elmwood Village and North Park neighborhoods, and the eastern end of the Town of Tonawanda.
The Jefferson Avenue Shul, also called Ahavas Sholem Synagogue, is located on the east side of Jefferson Avenue, north of William Street on Buffalo's Lower East Side. The congregation left the building in the 1950s, when urban renewal destroyed much of the Lower East Side. The shul was built in 1903, and is Buffalo's oldest standing former synagogue.
Across the street from the Jefferson Avenue Shul is the former site of the Buffalo Jewish Community Center. The A.D. Price public housing project is in the background.
The surrounding neighborhood today.
Off of William Street.
Redeveloped area near William Street on Buffalo's Lower East Side.
A synagogue in Polonia? Many Jewish merchants and their families in the Broadway-Fillmore area congregated at the Fillmore Avenue Shul, also called Ahavas Achim Sunagogue. The shul is located on the east side of Fillmore Avenue, about a block north of Broadway. In 1950, Ahavas Achim merged with another East Side congregation, Anshe Lubavitz, and moved to North Buffalo.
Fillmore Avenue around the former Fillmore Avenue Shul.
Former Humboldt Orthodox Center shul on Glenwood Avenue. The building used to be a telephone company switching and operator office until it was purchased by the Orthodox Center.
Detail of the former Temple Beth David, on the east side of Humboldt Parkway in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. I couldn't get closer.
Street in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
Nearby Jefferson Avenue.
The former Temple Beth Zion is located on the east side of Richmond Street, in a healthy section of Buffalo's West Side. The congregation moved to Tonawanda in 1966, to be closer to the growing Jewish population in Amherst and the eastern section of Tonawanda. Two synagogues and a branch of the Jewish Community Center of Buffalo still remain on the West Side today.
The neighborhood surrounding the former synagogue. Richmond Street is the dividing line between the well-off Elmwood Village neighborhood, and the slowly gentrifying Upper West Side.
The most haunting stop was at the Beth Jacob Cemetery, in the city's Genesee-Moselle neighborhood, the most "keepin' it real" drug and gang-infested area ion the East Side. This was the cemetery of Temple Beth David, also known as the Clinton Street Shul, which disbanded in the 1940s or 1950s. The neighborhood was never home to a Jewish population; the cemetery was started decades ago, when its location was considered far out in the country. The last burial took place in 1970.
The surrounding neighborhood, once a blue collar, predominantly German neighborhood, experienced rapid racial and socioeconomic transition in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As the neighborhood became more dangerous, the Beth Jacob Cemetery was forgotten.
The surrounding neighborhood.