Property Record
158 RUGGLES ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Khiloth Jacob Synagogue |
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| Other Name: | Baptist Temple |
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| Reference Number: | 54695 |
| Location (Address): | 158 RUGGLES ST |
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| County: | Fond du Lac |
| City: | Fond du Lac |
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| Year Built: | 1923 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2010 |
| Historic Use: | house of worship |
| Architectural Style: | Early Gothic Revival |
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| Wall Material: | Wood Shingle |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | 1991: This simple carpenter Gothic church building has a steeply-pitched gable roof, a shingled exterior, and Gothic-arched openings. There is little other decoration on the building. Formerly 180 S. Military Road. 2010-2011 Intensive Survey Report Info: Rising from a raised brick basement that includes regularly placed, one-over-one-light, double-hung sashes (some of which have been boarded over), this gabled, Gothic Revival style religious facility is sheathed with wooden shingles. Oriented to the angled S. Military Road, the northeast elevation features a slight projection at its center, with Gothic-arched openings (that have been boarded over) to either side. The building#25;s primary entrance is situated along Ruggles Street and is located beneath a round-arched overhang with bracket supports which shelters a pair of wooden doors and a stained-glass transom. Windows along both side elevations vary in size; however, most are Gothic-arched examples. Additional entrances are located along the remaining two elevations. Various secondary accounts give different dates of establishment for the Jewish society of Khiloth Jacob; however, the local newspaper reported its organization on 14 September 1915, with the following serving as officers: Abraham Sadoff, president; A. Aronia, vice president; S. Goodman, treasurer and E. Goodman, secretary. Despite formal organization, the Jewish community had been praying together in the home of Jacob Cohen as early as 1905, after which it was moved to the home of the local kosher butcher Mr. Hurawitz. Although organized services appear to have been held in a rented hall above the Model Laundry (SW corner of S. Macy & W. Division), by no later than 1917, the local paper reported in May of that year, "The Jewish Tabernacle at present is located at 180 Military Road. Rabbi L. Fisher is in charge. Fond du Lac has thirty Jewish families." It would then appear that the "synagogue" at that time was an existing two-story house. In 1921, it was noted that a Jewish religious school would be installed at the local synagogue. The structure that currently stands at Ruggles Street & S. Miltary Road was built and dedicated in May of 1923 and membership at that time was estimated at 100 persons. The Fond du Lac Jewish community utilized this structure as their place of worship until a new facility was completed in 1960 at 149 E. Division Street. The subject structure is now privately owned but appears to still function as a religious facility. This church originated with the Jewish residents of Fond du Lac, who organized the Kehiloth Jacob congegation in 1914. In 1922 this lot was purchased and a building constructed or moved onto this lot. This building was probably moved here around 1925 and used by the congregation until 1954, when a new building on E. Division St. was built for the synagogue. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Fond du Lac City Directories. (B) Sanborn-Perris Maps - Fond du Lac. (C) Fond du Lac Tax Rolls. (D) Carol Cartwright, City of Fond du Lac Intensive Survey Report, Fond du Lac: City of Fond du Lac, 1992. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |