The congregation Kehilath Anshe Maarav was founded on November 3, 1847 at the wholesale dry-goods store of Levi Rosenfeld and Jacob Rosenberg located at 155 Lake Street by twenty men, many of whom hailed from Bavaria. At the time, this section of the Chicago Loop was the center of the small Chicago Jewish community. The newly founded congregation was first housed above Rosenfeld and Rosenberg's store at Lake and Wells street. After increasing membership and lack of space, the congregation was soon forced to find a more suitable space to accommodate their growing community. A lot was leased at Clark and Quincy streets, and construction of a small frame synagogue began. After an investment of $12,000, the one and a half story building, with a capacity of 450 people, was dedicated on June 13, 1851. After only two years, their land lease had expired, forcing the congregation to move the new building to Adams and Wells in 1853. Unscathed by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, KAM's synagogue building was burned down in the Chicago Fire of 1874. In 1890, KAM moved into its Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler designed temple in Bronzeville, and in 1924 moved again to a private residence in Hyde Park. The former synagogue became the Pilgrim Baptist Church, the birthplace of Gospel music. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, designated a Chicago Landmark in 1981, and partially destroyed by fire in 2006. In 1971, KAM merged with another Reform congregation, Isaiah Israel, to become KAM Isaiah Israel. The synagogue is at 1100 E. Hyde Park Boulevard in the Kenwood neighborhood. Kenwood is an area known for its large homes and well-to-do residents, such as Barack Obama and Muhammad Ali. The temple's architecture was inspired by those constructed during the Byzantine Period of Judaism. The minaret is not on top of the dome as it appears in this photo, but rather it is atop a tower that functions as a chimney, behind the building. Built for the Isaiah Israel congregation in 1924, the structure was designed by Alfred S. Alschuler, who drew his influence from photographs of the second-century Severus synagogue unearthed at Tiberias, in Galilee. The extensions were designed by architects John Alschuler and Ron Dirsmith. The building was designated an official Chicago Landmark on June 9, 1977.
