Shaare Emeth Congregation, 1878

From The Pictorial Guide to St. Louis by Camille N. Dry (1878) is this fine drawing of the Shaare Emeth Congregation's temple at the northeast corner of 17th and Pine streets. The reform Jewish congregation purchased the land and built a temple in the late 1860s, and it continued to occupy the building until the late 1890s, when it moved to the corner of Lindell and Vandeventer, reflecting changing attitudes about fashionable areas of the city. By the 1920s, the congregation population had shifted further west -- this time, Shaare Emeth moved to University City (at 6840 Delmar). By the 1960s, a still-migrating congregation permitted the sale of the University City temple, and Shaare Emeth currently holds services in Creve Coeur.

It is unclear when the Temple at 17th and Pine was demolished. The site is now home to the Plaza Square Apartments.