Built 1889 (1889) Opened 1889 Added to NRHP 24 August 1978 | NRHP Reference # 78000239 Phone +1 802-773-3455 | |
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The Rutland Jewish Center is a synagogue and religious community center at 96 Grove Street in Rutland, Vermont. It is located in the former H. H. Baxter Memorial Library building, a Richardsonian Romanesque structure that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Programs and services
The Rutland Jewish Center (RJC) provides a variety of cultural and educational services to the Jewish community of the Rutland area. It offers both adult and children's classes, the latter including Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah training. Its rabbi is a member of the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly.
Architecture and building history
The RJC building is a cruciform structure, built out of grey marble quarried in West Rutland and laid in irregular courses. Prominent features include the arched entrance portico at the corner of Grove and Library Streets, and the multi-stage square tower that has an open top stage, each side featuring a pair of round-arched openings separated by a round column. The building was constructed as a library in 1889 by Mary E. Roberts Baxter in honor of her husband, Horace Henry Baxter, a New York City financier and part-owner of the Rutland Marble Company. The building was designed by Brunner & Tryon, and was opened to the public in 1895.
In 1927, the building was purchased by Congregation Adath Israel, which had been formed in Rutland in 1911. The domed section of the library was repurposed for use as the main synagogue. The building has since been sympathetically enlarged.