{{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = House of Peace Synagogue | nrhp_type = | image = House of Peace Synagogue (Columbia, South Carolina).JPG | caption = House of Peace Synagogue | location = 1000 Hampton Street, [[Columbia, South Carolina]] | coordinates = {{coord|34|0|15|N|81|2|18|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = South Carolina#USA | area = | built = 1915 | architecture = | added = August 28, 1979 | mpsub = Columbia MRA | refnum = 79003354<ref name=nris>{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref> }} The '''House of Peace Synagogue''' is a former synagogue of the Beth Shalom Congregation in [[Columbia, South Carolina]].<ref name = Beth_Shalom>{{cite web | title = Our Shul | work = About Us | publisher = Beth Shalom Synagogue (Columbia, South Carolina) | url = http://bethshalomcolumbia.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=200068&420536f42d7cc8efad63554a90c7ac69=2d9019f0cf86c804ebd14a2e08177702 | access-date = 10 July 2009}}</ref> It was originally located at 1318 Park Street.<ref name = inventory>{{cite web | title = House of Peace Synagogue| work = National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form | publisher = National Park Service | url = http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/richland/S10817740058/S10817740058.pdf| access-date =30 May 2009 }}</ref> After the congregation moved in the 1935, the building was used for the '''Big Apple Club''', which was an African-American [[night club]]. It was named to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on August 28, 1979.<ref name = nris/><ref name = SCDAH>{{cite web | title = House of Peace Synagogue, Richland County (Hampton & Park Sts., Columbia) | work = National Register Properties in South Carolina | publisher = South Carolina Department of Archives and History | url = http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/richland/S10817740058/index.htm| access-date =30 May 2009 }}</ref><ref name = Maxey>{{cite book | last = Maxey | first = Russell |author2=Historic Columbia Foundation | title = South Carolina's Historic Columbia, Yesterday and Today in Photographs | publisher = R.L. Bryan Company | year = 1980 | location = Columbia, South Carolina | pages = 214–215 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aguIAAAACAAJ&q=0934870020 | isbn = 0-934870-02-0}}</ref> In the early 1980s, the building was moved to its present location at the southeast corner of Hampton and Park Streets.<ref name = googlemap>{{cite web | title = +34° 0' 15", -81° 02' 18"| work = Google Maps | publisher = Google Maps | url = https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.004167,-81.038333&spn=0.0025,0.0025&t=h&q=34.004167,-81.038333| access-date = 29 May 2009}}</ref> In 1993, it was purchased by the Historic Columbia Foundation and is called the '''Big Apple'''.<ref name=HCF>{{cite web| title =History| work =The Big Apple| publisher =Historic Columbia Foundation| url =http://www.historiccolumbia.org/site/houses/the-big-apple/history/index| access-date =10 July 2009| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090326080613/http://historiccolumbia.org/site/houses/the-big-apple/history/index| archive-date =26 March 2009}}</ref>
==History==
The first Jewish congregation in Columbia, Sharit Israel, met on Assembly Street. Their building was destroyed in the [[Columbia, South Carolina, in the American Civil War#The burning of Columbia|burning of Columbia]] in the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. The Jewish community diminished after the war until [[Eastern Europe]]an immigrants arrived later in the century. In 1896, the [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] Tree of Life synagogue was built. Because of religious differences, the [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] Jews in Columbia separated. In 1907, the Orthodox [[minyan]] met at a house at Park and Lady Streets that served as their first synagogue. They received a state charter in 1912. This first synagogue was destroyed in a fire in 1915. The new synagogue was built at the site.<ref name=JHSSC>{{cite web| title =History of Beth Shalom, Columbia, SC| work =Historical SC Sites| publisher =Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina| url =http://www.jhssc.org/Col_Beth_Shalom_History.html| access-date =10 July 2009| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090705172549/http://www.jhssc.org/Col_Beth_Shalom_History.html| archive-date =5 July 2009}}</ref> By the late 1920s, they had outgrown this facility.<ref name = Beth_Shalom/> They moved to their third synagogue on 1719 Marion Street in early 1935.<ref name = Maxey/><ref name = JHSSC/> The congregation's synagogue is now at 5827 North Trenholm Road.
The second synagogue on Park Street was then used for the African-American night club called the Big Apple Club. At the club, a dance craze, which was named the [[Big Apple (dance)|Big Apple]], was popularized.<ref name = Maxey/><ref name = JHSSC/><ref name = Wilkinson>{{cite news | last = Wilkinson | first = Jeff | title = It helps identify and define our culture | work = The State | place = Columbia, South Carolina | publisher = The McClatchy Company | date = August 27, 2003 | url = http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/6627529.htm | access-date = 19 July 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040112203630/http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/6627529.htm |archive-date = 12 January 2004}}</ref><ref name = Guest>{{cite web | last = Guest | first = Dan | title = Big Apple History | publisher = The Lindy Circle | url = http://www.lindycircle.com/history/big_apple/ | access-date =19 July 2009 }}</ref><ref name = sce>{{cite book | last = Edgar | first = Walter | title = South Carolina Encyclopedia | publisher = University of South Carolina Press | year = 2006 | location = Columbia, South Carolina | pages = 71–72| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=90ITAAAAYAAJ&q=1-57003-598-9 | isbn =1-57003-598-9}}</ref> Students from the [[University of South Carolina]], who paid to watch from a balcony, learned the dance steps. Some of these students took the dance to the [[Roxy Theatre (New York City)|Roxy Club]] in New York in 1937. From there, the dance was briefly popular across the country.<ref name = Maxey/><ref name = Wilkinson/><ref name = Guest/><ref name = sce/>
After its use as a night club, the building was used by various commercial establishments. At the time of the preparation of the [[National Register of Historic Places]] nomination, it was used by a [[HVAC|heating and air conditioning]] company.<ref name = inventory/><ref name = Maxey/> In the early 1980s, it was moved nearly two blocks to the corner of Hampton and Park Streets. In 1993, it was purchased by the Historic Columbia Foundation. It has been restored and is available for rental for special occasions.<ref name = HCF/>
==Architecture==
The Big Apple building is two-story, wooden building with a metal [[Gable|gabled roof]]. At its Park Street site, it was on a raised brick basement. Built for a congregation that was largely Polish and Russian immigrants, it is an example of Eastern Jewish architecture.<ref name = Maxey/>
The entrance to the building is in a projecting central bay. The door is flanked by wooden [[pilaster]]s and sidelights under a large arch with [[stained glass]] windows. On each side of the arch is a pair of tall narrow, stained glass windows with horseshoe arches. The sides of buildings have five windows with horseshoe arches. Some of {{what|date=April 2023}} have been modified. The sides have [[pediment]]ed gables with a [[Window|rondelle]].<ref name = inventory/>
The interior has central recessed dome. When it was the Big Apple Club, the dome had [[Neon sign|neon lights]] shaped like the crescent moon and shooting stars. There is a balcony on the front side of the building. This was the spectator's gallery during operation as the night club.<ref name = inventory/>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:House Of Peace}} [[Category:1907 establishments in South Carolina]] [[Category:20th-century synagogues in the United States]] [[Category:African-American history of South Carolina]] [[Category:Ashkenazi Jewish culture in South Carolina]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Columbia, South Carolina]] [[Category:Former synagogues in South Carolina]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 1907]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Columbia, South Carolina]] [[Category:Polish-Jewish culture in the United States]] [[Category:Russian-Jewish culture in the United States]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1915]] [[Category:Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina]]