Early Jewish Settlement in St. Louis
Because of France's restrictions on non-Catholics settling in its North American territories, the first jews did not arrive in Missouri until after the Louisiana Purchase. Historians Donald Makovsky and Walter Ehrlich both place initial Jewish settlement with Joseph Philipson, a German Jew who opened a store in St. Louis in 1807. Having emigrated to the U.S. seven years prior, Philipson arrived in St. Louis with $10,000 worth of merchandise. He eventually grew his business to include a brewery, distillery, sawmill, bank holdings, and substantial real estate investments. Joseph's brother Jacob followed him to St. Louis the next year, establishing a store of his own. For the next eight years, the Philipson's would be the only Jews settled in St. Louis. In 1816, Wolf Bloch, a native of Schwihau, Bohemia, became the third Jew to settle in St. Louis.
Despite the Philipsons' early arrival, it would be another 30 years before a congregation founded in the city. These early settlers were rarely religiously observant and likely married into Christian families. It wouldn't be until 1836 that you would have the first religious services in the city held. This initial Rosh Hashanah service in 1836 took place in a rented room above Max's Grocery & Restaurant at Second and Spruce Streets. In 1837, the ten men who met for services organized United Hebrew Congregation, the first of its kind in Missouri and the oldest active synagogue west of the Mississippi River. The first building for United Hebrew Congregation opened in 1859, on Sixth Street. In 1852 a second congregation founded, B'nai El. It moved into its own building three years later (pictured above). Congregation Shaare Emeth founded in 1866, and Congregation Temple Israel opened twenty years later in 1886. At the dawn of mass immigration from eastern Europe, St. Louis already had a thriving Jewish community. By 1905, the Jewish population of St. Louis exceeded 40,000.
St. Louis's Cemeteries
The first Jewish cemetery opened in St. Louis in 1844 when A.J. Latz purchased a lot on Pratte Avenue. This plot was used for twelve years before United Hebrew Congregation acquired a plot of its own for a cemetery. This plot eventually grew into what is now Mount Olive Cemetery.
Congregation B'nai El opened their own cemetery in 1849 along Gravois road. Eventually, congregants formed the Mt. Sinai Cemetery Association and consecrated the land as Mount Sinai Cemetery. Rabbis Wolfenstein and Sonnenschein officiated the cornerstone laying of Mt. Sinai's chapel on June 22, 1873. The cemetery came to be used for members not only B'nai El, but also Shaare Emeth and Temple Israel.
Jewish Hospital
By the late-19th century, against the backdrop of one of the worst economic depressions in American History (Panic of 1893), Jews in St. Louis increasingly saw a need for increasing relief efforts across the city. United Jewish Charities launched a relief drive in 1898, where they raised roughly $37,000 in donations (roughly $1.4 million by modern standards). Two years later, in 1900, St. Louis's Jews donated another $100,000 ($3.7 million in 2024) toward the construction of a hospital for the poor. After this donation, The Jewish Hospital of St. Louis incorporated, headed by August Frank.
In 1927, the hospital relocated to Delmar Boulevard in Forest Park neighborhood of St. Louis. The new hospital was two blocks from Barnes Hospital, and in 1996 the two hospitals merged to become Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Barnes-Jewish is currently the largest hospital in Missouri.
Jewish Hospital
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