One of the oldest existing synagogues in the West is receiving state funding in Colorado for some important structural upgrade work.
Located at 407 Maple Street in the city of Trinidad, the Temple Aaron was built in 1889 and late last year was designated as a National Historic Landmark.
The building was designed by the well-known architect Isaac Hamilton Rapp, who is known as the originator of the “Santa Fe style” that would come to be seen in dozens of other public and private structures in the West between the 1880s and 1920s.
The nearly $238,000 funding for the Temple Aaron work is coming from the History Colorado’s State Historical Fund, and will specifically be used for replacement of the temple’s pressed metal roof and rehabilitation of masonry earlier damaged by water infiltration.
Previous reports have indicated that the building is also in need of an electrical system upgrade and a restoration of the structure’s wooden window frames.
The History Colorado funding for the Temple Aaron work is part of a larger nearly $5.5 million in grants the organization is giving this year to some 37 historic property upgrades and restorations across the state.
In a statement, Marcia Moore Gantz, director of the State Historical Fund, said that the grants “not only preserve physical structures but also safeguard the cultural narratives and identities that define Colorado.”
In the 2000 book Pioneer Jews: A New Life in the Far West, Temple Aaron was described as an “unusually handsome, two-story brick and sandstone temple, graced by stained glass windows vividly illustrating Biblical scenes.”
By Garry Boulard
Image Credit: Courtesy of History Colorado
