List of the oldest synagogues in the United States

Synagogues may be considered "oldest" based on different criteria such as oldest surviving building or oldest congregation. Some older synagogue buildings have been in continuous use as synagogues, while others have been converted to other purposes, and a few, such as the Touro Synagogue, were shuttered for many decades. Some early established congregations have been the in continuous existence, while other early congregations have ceased to exist.

Oldest congregations

Sephardi congregations

All of the oldest congregations in the new world were founded by Sephardi Jews and followed the Sephardic liturgy.

* Congregation Shearith Israel, founded in 1654, in New York City, is the oldest congregation in the United States. Its present building dates from 1896–97.
* Congregation Jeshuat Israel, founded circa 1658, in Newport, Rhode Island, is dated to sometime after the arrival of Jews in 1658 and prior to the 1677 purchase of a communal cemetery, now known as Touro Cemetery. In much of the nineteenth century, no Jews lived in Newport, and the ownership of the building and synagogue were entrusted to Congregation Shearith Israel. The building was reopened for the use of Ashkenazi Jews in 1883.
* Congregation Mickve Israel of Savannah, Georgia, was organized in 1733. Sarna, Jonathan. ''American Judaism''. Yale University Press, 2004. p. 19.
* Congregation Mikveh Israel of Philadelphia was organized in the 1740s.
* Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue, Charleston, South Carolina, was founded in the 1740s.
* Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome, Richmond, Virginia, was founded in 1789. In 1898, it merged with Congregation Beth Ahabah, which was founded in 1841.
* The St. Thomas Synagogue in the United States Virgin Islands was founded in 1796.
* Nefutzoth Yehudah (Congregation Dispersed of Judah) in New Orleans, Louisiana, was founded in 1846. In 1881, it merged with the Ashkenazic congregation Shanarai-Chasset (Congregation Gates of Mercy) to form Touro Synagogue. The congregation joined the Reform movement in 1891.Our History
. ''Touro Synagogue''.

Ashkenazi congregations

Until 1795, all documented congregations in the United States followed the Sephardic minhag. However, many included Ashkenazi members as well.

* There are a few references to an Ashkenazi Beth Elohim in Charleston prior to 1791, although this may have been a subgroup within the Sephardic Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim rather than a fully independent congregation
* Congregation Rodeph Shalom (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), founded in 1795, is usually considered the oldest existing Ashkenazi congregation in the United States.
* K.K. Bene Israel in Cincinnati, Ohio, now known as the Rockdale Temple (1824) is the oldest congregation west of the Allegheny Mountains.
* B'nai Jeshurun in New York City, was founded in 1825.
* Shanarai-Chasset (Congregation Gates of Mercy) in New Orleans, Louisiana, was founded in 1828. In 1881, it merged with the Sephardic Nefutzoth Yehudah (Congregation Dispersed of Judah) to form Touro Synagogue in New Orleans. The congregation joined the Reform movement in 1891.

Oldest existing buildings

This list includes only buildings originally built as synagogues that are still standing. Some continue in use as Jewish houses of worship; others have been adaptively reused. Fewer than 100 purpose-built synagogues constructed prior to 1900 remain standing.Gordon, Mark W.,
Rediscovering Jewish Infrastructure: Update on United States Nineteenth Century Synagogues
'. ''American Jewish History'', 84.1, 1996, p. 11–27
2019 article update
A portion of these are highlighted below.

* Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island (1759–63)
* St. Thomas Synagogue, United States Virgin Islands (1833)
* Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue, Charleston, South Carolina (1840–41)
* Lloyd Street Synagogue, Baltimore, Maryland (1845)
* Angel Orensanz Center, New York, New York (1849–50)
* Congregation Rodeph Sholom, New York, New York, now Congregation Chasam Sopher (1853)
* Congregation Beth Israel (Honesdale, Pennsylvania) (1856)
* Sherith Israel Temple (Cincinnati, Ohio) (1860)
* Shaare Tefilah (Gates of Prayer), New Orleans, Louisiana (1860–65)
* Gates of Heaven Synagogue, Madison, Wisconsin (1863)
* Plum Street Temple, Cincinnati, Ohio (1865–66)
* B'er Chayim Temple, Cumberland, Maryland (1865–67)
* Temple Israel (Lafayette, Indiana) (1867)
* Congregation of B'nai Israel Synagogue, Augusta, Georgia (1869)
* B'nai Sholom Temple, Quincy, Illinois (1869–70)
* Congregation Berith Sholom, Troy, New York (1870)
* Congregation B'nai Israel, Galveston, Texas (1870)
* Central Synagogue, New York, New York (1870–72)
* Congregation Beth Israel (West Hartford, Connecticut) (1875–76)
* Temple of Israel (Wilmington, North Carolina) (1875–76)
* B'nai Israel Synagogue (Baltimore, Maryland) (1876)
* Union Temple, Brooklyn, New York (1876)
* Adas Israel Congregation, Washington, D.C. (now Lillian & Albert Small Jewish Museum) (1876)
* Congregation Mickve Israel, Savannah, Georgia (1876–78)
* Temple Adath Israel (Owensboro, Kentucky) (1877)
* Congregation Beth Israel (Charlottesville, Virginia) (1882)
* Congregation Adas Emuno, Hoboken, New Jersey (1883)
* Temple Beth El, Jefferson City, Missouri (1883)
* Prince Street Synagogue