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Overview

As noted on the "Congregation Emanu-El at 160" website, the earliest Jewish settlers migrated to Victoria, BC, Canada, in 1858, some of whom had participated in the California Gold Rush about ten years earlier. Many of the early residents came from merchant families and did not mine for gold but set up businesses--dry goods, hardware, groceries--needed by the miners. The first synagogue was planned and constructed in 1862-1863, erected to the specifications of the San Francisco architectural firm of Wright and Sanders. (See Congregation Emanu-El.org, "Synagogue History," accessed 08/13/2024.)

Building History

The congregation of “Emanu‐El of Victoria, Vancouver Island," Canada established itself in 1862, buying a piece of property on which to raise a new synagogue. During the 1860s through the 1880s, the San Francisco partnership of Wright and Sanders designed an assortment of houses of worship for various faiths, including Episcopalian, Congregationalist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Jewish. The firm also designed at least one other building in Victoria, the Richard Carr House, laid out on an eight-acre property. (Thank you to Amber Woods for notifying the author about the building history done by the congregation for its 160 anniversary. See email from Amber Woods to the author, 08/05/2024.)

PCAD id: 25428