The Jewish Community of Wheeling, West Virginia

WHEELING - OHIO COUNTY - WEST VIRGINIA

Temple Shalom - Congregation L'Shem Shomayim

The Wheeling Jewish Community is the oldest in the State of West Virginia having been founded in 1849. The first Jewish organization was a cemetery group that purchased land adjacent to the Mount Wood Cemetery for a Jewish burial ground. Between 1849 and 1856 High Holy Days services were held in Wheeling and by 1861 the L'Shem Shomayim Congregation was holding monthly services. The beautiful Eoff Street Temple, the first permanent building for the congregation, was dedicated in 1892. This building was used until 1957 when the Woodsdale Temple was built on Bethany Pike. In 1974 The Woodsdale Temple (Reform) and the Synagogue of Israel (Conservative) merged to form Temple Shalom. In 1986 Agudas Achim Congregation of nearby Bellaire, Ohio closed and its members join Temple Shalom. Today, the synagogue has 90 membership units and serves as the only Jewish house of worship in Wheeling. There is a small museum and archives at the temple and the temple maintains the three distinct Jewish cemeteries (Orthodox, Conservative & Reform) in the Wheeling area. Well-known early Jewish family names from Wheeling include Baer, Bloch Brothers (Mail Pouch Tobacco), Good, Horkheimer, Krauss, Pollock, Rosenbloom and many others.

Click on the Thumbnail Photographs for the Larger Photographs