Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue

Forty-seven congregants petitioned for reform in 1824 — and when the trustees refused, American Judaism changed direction. The congregation of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, founded in Charleston in 1749 by Sephardic Jews of Spanish and Portuguese origin, became the first American Reform congregation by 1841. The current Greek Revival building on Hasell Street, completed in 1840, is the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the United States. In 2021, a monument was installed acknowledging that the building was constructed using the forced labor of enslaved Black people owned by David Lopez Jr.