Summary
Organization name
Temple Aaron of Trinidad Colorado
1883
Tax id (EIN)
82-4838982
Category
Religion-Related
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
407 S. Maple St.Trinidad, CO 81082
CO, US
NM, US
TX, US
OK, US
KS, US
About
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Help Save Temple Aaron: Double Your Gift for Colorado Gives Day
A $50,000 Challenge Match Is Waiting
An anonymous donor has offered a $50,000 challenge match for Colorado Gives Day. Every dollar you give will be matched, up to $50,000, to help us reach our goal of $50,000 by January 1, 2027.
A failing retaining wall and an aging roof threaten a building that has survived for more than a century. With an anonymous donor matching every dollar, this Colorado Gives Day is the best time to give.
Your gift will go toward two urgent needs:
- Phase II of our historic roof restoration: the onion and pyramid domes and the lower porch roof.
- Repair and replacement of our historic stone retaining wall, which is in critical condition and failing.
We will divide the proceeds between the two projects. Historic preservation tax credits totaling $104,000 will also go toward the retaining wall, so your gift reaches even further.
Progress You Helped Make Possible
Phase I of the roof campaign is nearing completion, thanks to the generosity of previous donors like you. Demolition and replacement of the original pressed metal roof is almost done. Brick tuckpointing and cornice repair and painting are complete.
A Jewel on the Hill
On a hill above downtown Trinidad, Colorado, 15 miles north of the New Mexico border, a synagogue built in 1889 still stands in a town of just 8,000 people. With its onion dome, minarets, and geometric colored-glass windows, Temple Aaron looks like it belongs in another time and place.
Many people, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, are surprised to learn that Trinidad had a significant Jewish community at all, let alone one that built such a stunning synagogue.
Jewish settlers arrived in 1860-61, when coal was discovered, making Trinidad one of the oldest Jewish communities in Colorado. Between 1880 and 1920, Trinidad was the fourth or fifth largest town in the state, and about 250 of its residents were Jewish.
Many of the young men who settled here traveled to St. Louis, Cincinnati, and New York to find wives, then returned to raise families. Those families wanted a rich and meaningful Jewish life. They formed a congregation by 1883, and in 1889 they completed their synagogue for the princely sum of $12,500, almost half a million dollars in today’s money.
Why Temple Aaron Must Be Saved: A center for the whole community
For 137 years, Temple Aaron has welcomed far more than its own congregation. It hosted civic events, concerts and music festivals, educational events, community dinners, and more. A well-attended three-day Founder’s Day Celebration in July 2026 drew crowds to the temple, a Rocky Mountain PBS crew filmed here for the upcoming Colorado 150 documentary series, and outlets including Colorado Public Radio and National Public Radio have covered our work to sustain Jewish life in southern Colorado.
Your gift keeps this landmark standing for future generations.
Thank you!
Giving Activity
Mission
Temple Aaron of Trinidad, Colorado, a Colorado non-profit organization, aims to:
Nurture an active, growing Jewish congregation for all who consider Temple Aaron a special place;
Hold Jewish and appropriate secular events so that Temple Aaron remains a place of Jewish worship connected to its community;
Preserve Temple Aaron for future generations.
Background Statement
One of the most historic synagogues in the Mountain West (that portion of the United States between the Dakotas and the West Coast) sits not in any big city but on a quiet street in the small town of Trinidad, Colorado. Trinidad is about 200 miles south of Denver and 15 miles north of the New Mexico border. The town was founded in the 1860’s as a stop on the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail and has been home to Jews ever since. In fact, when the town incorporated in 1876, its first mayor, Sam Jaffa, was Jewish. The local Jewish community founded Congregation Aaron (named after Sam’s father) in 1883. Six years later in 1889, for the princely sum of approximately $12,500, the congregation built the magnificent red brick structure that still graces 407 South Maple Street today- Temple Aaron. It is one of less than two dozen original structures that have continuously been synagogues since the 19th century in the United States, and the third oldest such structure west of the Mississippi River.
For the next century, Temple Aaron not only served its immediate congregation, but warmly welcomed the entire Trinidad community by hosting concerts, dinners, and other public events. The temple was the spiritual and cultural home to many Jewish families who raised their children there.
After 140 years, Trinidad has undergone many changes, and a relatively small congregation found it increasingly difficult to keep up with the costs of maintaining the building. In 2016, the temple’s parent foundation, the Alfred Freudenthal Memorial Foundation, made the agonizing decision to close the temple’s doors.
But the story does not end there. Concerned individuals and foundations have united to preserve Temple Aaron as a Jewish landmark. Colorado Preservation, Inc, named Temple Aaron as one of its Most Endangered Places in 2017. In December, 2023, the temple was honored to receive designation as a National Historic Landmark, one of just 16 in the nation that year.
At this time, the community of Temple Aaron has grown to include over 80 member families and over 1500 individuals across the country who support the synagogue. The temple offers monthly Torah studies online as well as periodic in-person services and events in the sanctuary.
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Organization Data
Trinidad, CO 81082