CHURCHES AND SYNAGOGUES
From the Re-Echo, Spring 2004

The Historical Society is researching the history of churches and synagogues in St. Louis Park.  Please contact us if you have any information about the history of a church or synagogue that you could share with the Historical Society.

The oldest church in the City is Union Congregational.  It began as the Clarke Chapel at the intersection of Wooddale and Excelsior Boulevard.  Its roots go back to 1870, when services were held in the Pratt School, also at that intersection.  Clarke Chapel was built in 1878.  In 1890 it was moved to its present Alabama Ave. location.  The current building was dedicated in 1941. 

There were two community churches that met the needs of the populace in north and south St. Louis Park.  The Brookside Community Church started with members meeting in a cottage in 1913.  They moved to their new church on Brookside Ave. in 1915.  It is unknown whether the church was originally Methodist, but it was certainly Methodist when it merged with the Methodist Meeting House on Salem Ave. to become Aldersgate Methodist Church.  Aldersgate built at its present site in 1951.  The little white church on Brookside Ave. was subsequently used by Christian Scientists and is now St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church.

The Northside Community Church has roots going back to 1920.  In the middle 1940s, the heretofore nondenominational church became Lutheran.  In 1947, the name was changed to Westwood Lutheran Church.  The church built a new building on Cedar Lake Road in 1948.  The original Northside building reopened as Ascention Lutheran Church in 1956.

In addition to these older churches, there was a building boom of churches in the late 1940s and '50s to coincide with the population and home building boom. 

Synagogues have a very rich and important history in St. Louis Park.  The migration of Jewish families from North Minneapolis started after World War II and continued in force throughout the 1950s and '60s.  Two of the first synagogues to move to the Park were B'nai Emet (1959) and Beth El (1961).



 

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.