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Atlantic Congregational Church, St. Paul

A group of people began holding Congregationalist meetings in the new Dayton's Bluff neighborhood on November 21, 1882 in the home of George M. and Elizabeth Gage on Bates Avenue at Van Burean Place.  At a second meeting on December 2 of the same year, the group met to form a church.  On December 10, they held a service in the Methodist Episcopal Chapel on Bates Street. Later services were held in a storeroom in Mr. Shornstein's store on Bates and Hudson Street and in the Methodist Chapel.

Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church, Minneapolis

Augustana Lutheran Church was established on April 16, 1866, by Swedish and Lutheran immigrants. According to the WAP Report (L. Hallgrains, 1936), the few Swedish families began meeting in homes for services in 1857. By 1865, services were held in Chutes schoolhouse, or, more commonly, in the home of C. G. Vannstrom, with the Reverend E. Norelius, from St. Paul, preaching. Meetings were moved to "Dr. Knickerbacker's church (Episcopalian),at Hennepin and Fourth St. in 1866 and the congregation was formally organized.  They bought a lot at Washington and 13th Ave.

B'nai Abraham Congregation, Minneapolis

Not all the Jewish people who emigrated to Minneapolis came from the region of Eastern Europe known as the Pale of Settlement that was part of Czarist Russia.  Others came from Romania that was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  Few in number, their customs and traditions while similar to their co-religionists from the Pale of Settlement, differed enough in certain respects to cause controversy. 

Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis

The Basilica of St. Mary is a Roman Catholic Church which was the first of its kind in the area, originally called the Church of Immaculate Conception. The structure was constructed from 1907-1913. It was planned by Archbishop John Ireland and architect Emmanuel Masqueray and funded by the efforts of parishioners. One dedicated parishioner - Lawrence S.

Beth David, St. Paul

Beth David was a small Orthodox congregation organized in 1917 by fifteen men living on Saint Paul’s West Side river flats.  The congregation was a member of the Jewish Union of Orthodox Rabbis, USA.In ca. 1919, the congregation purchased the Clinton Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church located at 471 Clinton Avenue.  While changes were made to the interior of the structure to transform it into a synagogue, its tower was not removed until 1938.In that year there were 55 members in the congregation and 50 women in its Ladies Auxiliary.It is unclear when the congregation disbanded.

Beth El Congregation, Minneapolis

The second Conservative synagogue in Minneapolis (Adath Jeshuran on the South Side is the first), Beth El was organized in 1921 by young, mainly second generation Jews who had attended Talmud Torah, a Zionist after-school Hebrew academy. A lot was purchased in 1906 on the corner of Penn Avenue North and 14th Street, and a stunning, pared-down modern style synagogue was erected, designed by the firm of Liebenberg and Kaplan.  Jack Liebenberg was the first Jew to graduate from the University of Minnesota School of Architecture.

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About This Project

This project documents the congregations and houses of worship that developed within the earliest neighborhoods in Twin Cities between 1849 and 1924.. Among the topics explored are communities, ethnicity and identity, relationships among congregations, intra-congregational interactions, class structure, and the role of houses of worship.