Old Bnai Zion Synagogue

The old Bnai Zion Synagogue, home of El Paso's first Jewish community from 1912 to 1917, has played a significant part in the cultural and religious development of this city. From 1927 to 1934 (and beyond,) St. Nicholas Greek Church occupied the building. The red-brick structure was designed in an unusual, eclectic, classic style and it is perhaps the earliest synagogue extant in Trans-Pecos Texas. In more recent history, the old synagogue has continued to function as a sometimes social center, church, and (currently) as the Sunset Palace- a dance studio.

In 1900, the Orthodox Jewish Congregation Bnai Zion was granted its charter. On August 29, 1910, the group voted to purchase a lot on which to build a synagogue. Sometime between October 1 and December 31, 1912, the synagogue opened, according to Hymer E. Rosen, a life trustee and historian of Congregation Bnai Zion. The design chosen by the congregation is an unusual hybrid Greek Revival/Gothic Revival design common on the Eastern Seaboard in the first half of the 19th century, but totally unexpected in an early 20th-century synagogue in far West Texas. The handsome portico features a shingled pediment, adding further stylistic eclecticism. In scale plan, use, and date, the synagogue is similar to Temple Freda (National Register, 1983) in Bryan, Brazos County.

In 1927, the group, which had changed from Orthodox to Conservative Judaism, sold its first synagogue and moved to a new location at the corner of Cliff and Mesa streets. For the ensuing twenty-five years, the building was home to the Greek Orthodox Community. El Paso's first Eastern Orthodox church, St. Nicholas, held services at that site until the early 1950s, when, according to Father John Elias of St. George Orthodox Church, the St. Nicholas group joined his congregation. In 1962, the building was sold to H. J. Pandelides. "Lefty" Pandelides, a locally famous boxer, converted it into a boxing gym for a while. The family rented the structure to a variety of groups, the last being Faith Tabernacle. In 1978 the building was offered for sale, and in 1981 it was purchased by Marcus Investments and converted by Marcus Brothers Design and Construction Company. The structure has recently been sympathetically adapted as a dance studio and cultural center.

The synagogue is located at the western edge of Sunset Heights, one of the leading early-20th-century residential neighborhoods in El Paso. Located between the Rio Grande River and the Franklin Mountains, the area features fine, older homes, many of which have been rehabilitated. Unfortunately, Bnai Zion is threatened by the expansion of nearby El Paso Community College, whose parking lots now surround the historic synagogue.