Congregation Emanuel is a Conservative synagogue in Statesville, North Carolina. Built in 1891, it is the oldest house of worship in Statesville and the third oldest synagogue building in the state. It is one of fewer than a hundred nineteenth-century synagogue buildings still standing in the United States.Upon the occasion of Congregation Emanuel’s 100th birthday Hanna Adler, one its members, prepared a comprehensive booklet of its history. The following is quoted from Hanna Adler’s booklet: “The history of Jewish influence in Statesville begins in 1859 with the arrival of a German immigrant, Isaac Wallace. The accomplishments of this man and his family caused Statesville to become known both as a thriving religious center in Piedmont North Carolina and as an influential business community. Wallace was born in Germany, March 15,1828 and was an herb dealer in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, for two years after settling in the United States in 1854. During and after the Civil War, other Jewish families moved to Statesville and became active in retail, wholesale, liquor, tobacco, clothing, and merchandising. These families were loyal to the Confederacy.

The Wallace home became the center of religious life for the Jewish community when Congregation Emanuel was organized during a gathering on August 19, 1883. Regular worship services were held there and in the Fireman’s Hall on North Center Street for nine years until a temple was built at the intersection of West End Avenue and North Kelly Street.”

The brick, gable-end-to-the-street, Rundbogenstil building with its recessed, round-arch entrance and round-arch windows has experienced no major alterations in the century that it has served the Jewish community of Statesville. Local brick was used in construction of the exterior walls which feature corbeling decorations. The four supporting corner buttresses terminate in unique buttress caps of pressed tin with the Star of David and other ornamentation.

Most of the temple’s interior features have remained unchanged from the original design and furnishings. The detailed, hand-carved wooden Ark containing the Torah Scrolls, the wooden furnishings, and the unique painted fresco on the ceiling are attributed to the work of a Swiss-born artisan, Mr. G. Karcher, who moved to Statesville in 1875. The interior is illuminated by wall sconces and a brass chandelier hanging beneath the fresco. The fixtures originally were gas-fired and were later converted to electric. Red and green panes of manufactured patterned glass made up the windows of the synagogue. The glass reportedly was imported from England. Native wood was used to construct the pews.