The House of Peace Synagogue is a former synagogue of the Beth Shalom Congregation in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...

. It was originally located at 1318 Park Street. After the congregation moved in the 1935, the building was used for the Big Apple Club, which was an African-American

night club A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

. It was named to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on August 28, 1979. In the early 1980s, the building was moved to its present location at the southeast corner of Hampton and Park Streets. In 1993, it was purchased by the Historic Columbia Foundation and is called the Big Apple.

History

The first Jewish congregation in Columbia, Sharit Israel, met on Assembly Street. Their building was destroyed in the burning of Columbia in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. The Jewish community diminished after the war until

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

an immigrants arrived later in the century. In 1896, the

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

Tree of Life synagogue was built. Because of religious differences, the

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

Jews in Columbia separated. In 1907, the Orthodox minyan met at a house at Park and Lady Streets that served as their first synagogue. They received a state charter in 1912. This first synagogue was destroyed in a fire in 1915. The new synagogue was built at the site. By the late 1920s, they had outgrown this facility. They moved to their third synagogue on 1719 Marion Street in early 1935. The congregation's synagogue is now at 5827 North Trenholm Road. The second synagogue on Park Street was then used for the African-American night club called the Big Apple Club. At the club, a dance craze, which was named the

Big Apple "The Big Apple" is a nickname for New York City. It was first popularized in the 1920s by John J. Fitz Gerald, a sportswriter for the '' New York Morning Telegraph''. Its popularity since the 1970s is due in part to a promotional campaign by th ...

, was popularized. Students from the University of South Carolina, who paid to watch from a balcony, learned the dance steps. Some of these students took the dance to the Roxy Club in New York in 1937. From there, the dance was briefly popular across the country. After its use as a night club, the building was used by various commercial establishments. At the time of the preparation of the

nomination, it was used by a heating and air conditioning company. In the early 1980s, it was moved nearly two blocks to the corner of Hampton and Park Streets. In 1993, it was purchased by the Historic Columbia Foundation. It has been restored and is available for rental for special occasions.

Architecture

The Big Apple building is two-story, wooden building with a metal

gabled roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof ca ...

. At its Park Street site, it was on a raised brick basement. Built for a congregation that was largely Polish and Russian immigrants, it is an example of Eastern Jewish architecture. The entrance to the building is in a projecting central bay. The door is flanked by wooden

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s and sidelights under a large arch with stained glass windows. On each side of the arch is a pair of tall narrow, stained glass windows with horseshoe arches. The sides of buildings have five windows with horseshoe arches. Some of have been modified. The sides have

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

ed gables with a rondelle. The interior has central recessed dome. When it was the Big Apple Club, the dome had neon lights shaped like the crescent moon and shooting stars. There is a balcony on the front side of the building. This was the spectator's gallery during operation as the night club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:House Of Peace 1907 establishments in South Carolina 1915 establishments in South Carolina African-American history of South Carolina Ashkenazi Jewish culture in South Carolina Buildings and structures in Columbia, South Carolina Former religious buildings and structures in South Carolina Former synagogues in the United States Jewish organizations established in 1907 National Register of Historic Places in Columbia, South Carolina Polish-Jewish culture in the United States Russian-Jewish culture in the United States Synagogues completed in 1915 Synagogues in South Carolina Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina