The Boston Walks Host of BostonWalks' The Jewish Friendship Trail Since 1993

"West End House" circa 2004 - Begun by 35 Jewish boys in 1903! Click here to connect with more of Boston's Best!

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Even prior to the European arrival in the 1630s, native Americans were walking along the Charles River. Each century since has left momentos of Boston history. Gather your large group (25-55 participants) and arrange to explore the neighborhoods adjacent to the Charles River with BostonWalks.

THE WEST END OF BOSTON includes a fascinating mix of colonial history in the 17th & 18th centuries and of immigrant history in the 19th and 20th (1st half) centuries. Its an area which we have explored on foot & bicycle many times. We particularly have sought evidence still extant of previous passage through there. While most of the structures of the West End were demolished in the 1950s & 60s, BostonWalks can lead your large group (25-55 participants) to some survivors.

LETS TAKE A BRIEF LOOK AT THE WEST END'S JEWISH HERITAGE 1880-1940!

At its peak in the 1st 3 decades of the 20th century, Boston's West End provided homes to approximately forty thousand Jewish immigrants! Most were Orthodox Jews and followed their religious practices - keeping Kosher, praying two or three times a day, working hard, keeping the Sabbath, maintaining strong family ties, and encouraging education of their children as the way to succeed in America. The buildings and sites of the West End's Jews were extensive. There were fifteen (15) synagogues in the West End of that period. Three of their sites survive today (One still is an active shul, now in a modern synagogue building.)! There were numerous Jewish communal, social, educational, and recreational sites also during those early years. One of these sites survives today! There was one Jewish hospital with two sites, neither of which exists today! Lastly, there were the retailers who served this community, of whom there are just hints of their existence today!

At its peak during the mid-1890s, there were just under seven thousand (7,000) Jews living in Boston's North End! They constituted about a third of the North End's population at that time. The heart of the North End's Jewish community was Salem Street which was filled with Kosher butchers, bakers, tailors, delicatessens, clothiers, and food markets. New England's well-known food-chain Stop & Shop had a precursor in Solomon and Jennie Rubinowitz's "Greenie Store." Two alleys off Salem Street contained Orthodox Jewish shuls (synagogues) and Hebrew schools. A third major shul was on Hanover Street (There were at least three additional, smaller houses of worship.). By 1920, the very strong Jewish presence in the North End faded as the Jewish population moved on through the West and South Ends to Roxbury-Dorchester, Brookline - Newton, and Chelsea - Revere!

A POETIC LAMENT FOR JERUSALEM PLACE, NORTH END, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS!

Jerusalem and Baldwin Places, North End, Boston
Symbols of Eastern European Jews' presence 1880-1920
Were courts of two Jewish shuls (synagogues)
With companion Talmudim Torah (Houses of Bible Study)
Todays guided visitor can re-discover in them
A barely visible Mogen (Star of) David and block-lettered words "Hebrew School" halfway down each public way
Like plaques in honor of the 6,700 Jewish souls who once congregated here for prayer, study, and rest on Sabbaths and Holy Days
A respite from Salem Street's bazaar where on weekdays the same folks walked, talked, shopped, and played.
The Mogen David and block-lettered words "Hebrew School" today are the only echos.
Even the street sign for Jerusalem Place
Renamed in honor of its Jews in 1903 by the City of Boston
Is missing!

Overview: South End's Jewish History 1840s-1900s!

By the mid-19th century, sufficient Jews settled in the original Boston peninsula neck, later known as the South End, to form Massachusetts' first synagogue - Congregation Ohabei Shalom, the forerunner of Temple Ohabei Shalom of Brookline. This synagogue was the first of a half dozen South End Jewish houses of worship. Two others survive today as Temple Israel of Boston's Riverway and Temple Mishkan Tefila of Chestnut Hill.

Between the 1850s and 1870s, these synagogues, starting from the theater district, dotted the lower South End with their buildings. Then, from the 1880s to the early 1900s, they continued to build new facilities throughout the upper South End before moving on into Roxbury, Dorchester, and then, later, to their present locations. Some of their buildings survive today. A number of them have plaques commemorating their synagogue use. On our visits to these buildings, we have been impressed with their grandeur and handsomeness. They make great destinations for a group walk!