Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU

This guide to the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU stands at 301 Washington Avenue, where a Moorish copper dome tops a 1936 Art Deco synagogue built only after Jewish families were barred by deed clauses from building south of Fifth Street. You'll hear how Congregation Beth Jacob worshipped in living rooms for years before architect Henry Hohauser, one of its own members, designed the grand sanctuary in front of you. By 1986 the shrinking congregation could no longer fill it, and the building was left to weather and vandals as demolition looked certain.