First National Bank of Charleroi
The Jewish Encyclopedia
of Western Pennsylvania
A project of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
Charleroi, Pa. is a borough in Washington County. It was settled in 1890 by immigrants from Belgium and incorporated as a borough in 1891. A year later, the Charleroi Plate Glass Company built a plant in the town. Charleroi soon became one of the most important glassmaking centers in the world, nicknamed “Magic City.”
Jewish families began settling in Charleroi shortly after the founding of the borough. A notice in the October, 29, 1897 issue of the Jewish Criterion reports on the wedding of a young couple in the Masonic Hall in Charleroi, officiated by a rabbi from Pittsburgh. The most successful early Jewish resident of Charleroi was Sam Friedman, who immigrated to Scranton, Pa. from Galicia during the 1890s to work in a factory. According to local historian Jacob Feldman, in his book The Jewish Experience in Western Pennsylvania, A History: 1755-1945, “He arrived in Pittsburgh in 1898 and unsuccessfully sought work in McKeesport. He walked to Charleroi where he was hired at a grocery store. Soon he bought a horse and wagon to peddle fruit. Entering the junk business a year later, he bought a scrapyard with his first $1,000 in savings a prospered. By 1918, he was one of the wealthiest men in Charleroi and was on the board of directors of three banks.”
Other early Jewish residents in Charleroi listed in the Jewish Criterion before 1915 included Charles and Kate (Goldstone) Robinowitz, William and Mary (Rogaliner) Oppenheim, Louis and Bertha Greenberg, Louis Beigel, Abe Levinson, Sara Abramowitz, I. Bisken, R. J. Weisner, and Jacob Schwartz. Several of these families appeared to have had an affiliation with Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh.
The small Jewish community of Charleroi made numerous attempts to establish a congregation in the 1900s and 1910s.
The 1919-1920 edition of the American Jewish Yearbook included a listing for Beth Israel Congregation of Charleroi at 328 Washington Avenue, established in 1907.
The March 17, 1916 issue of the Jewish Criterion noted the organization of Beth Jacob Congregation of Charleroi with the following officers: Ignatius Birken (President), J. Ziedman (Vice-President), Sam Friedman (Treasurer), H. Wasserman (Secretary).
The October 12, 1917 issue of the Jewish Criterion reported on a recent Simchas Torah party arranged by Tree of Life Congregation of Charleroi at the home of S. Rubenstien with S. Melds, A. Brill, C. Stein, I. Maulen, I. Birken, S. Markowitz, S. Rubenstein, Wm. Meister, S. Katz, M. Lauff, N. Glickberg, S. Louis, and H. Prise in attendance.
A contingent of liberal Jews in Charleroi rented the third floor of the National Bank Building at Fifth Street and Fallowfield Avenue as early as 1914 to use for worship and for a religious school, according to a survey from the Works Progress Administration Church Archives. The group was lay-led throughout the year and hired a rabbinic student either from Hebrew Union College or the Jewish Theological Seminary to lead services during the High Holidays. The group chartered Rodef Shalom Congregation in late 1924 and broke ground on a synagogue on Washington Avenue near the intersection with Fifth Street in late 1925. A time capsule containing “records of the congregation and its members, together with a Bible and American and Zionist flags” was placed in the cornerstone. The congregation included members from nearby Bentleyville, Pa., which had too small of a Jewish population to support an independent congregation.
Rodef Shalom Congregation of Charleroi merged with Knesseth Israel Congregation in nearby Monessen, Pa. in 1967 to create the new Temple Beth Am, based in Monessen.
Throughout the 1900s and 1910s, Jewish women in towns throughout the mid-Monongahela Valley joined together to form numerous aid societies and sewing circles.
The Monongahela Valley Section of the Council of Jewish Women was formed in October 1920 representing Jewish women from Charleroi, Donora, Fayette City, Monessen, and Monongahela City with the following officers: Mrs. Wm. Oppenheim (General President), Mrs. Harry Lebovitz (General Vice President), Mrs. Ben Friedman (General Secretary), Mrs. Louis Rosenbloom (Treasurer), Mrs. J. Goldstein (Vice President), Mrs. R. Janowitz (Vice President), Mrs. N. Greenberg (Vice President), Mrs. M. Sanberg (Vice President). The section soon expanded to include women from Bentleyville and Roscoe and merged with a section in California, Pa. in early 1921.
The Council of Jewish Juniors of Monongahela Valley began Oct. 29, 1922 with the following officers: Elsie Janavitz (President), Estelle Eisenberg (Vice President), Lillian Saul (Recording Secretary), Freda Shapiro (Corresponding Secretary), Ann Goldman (Chaplain), and Betha Irwin (Treasurer). Jeanette Rosenbloom represented Charleroi.
The Rodef Sholom Congregation Sisterhood was established in late 1924.
B’nai B’rith Charleroi Lodge No. 639 was installed June 28, 1908 with the following officers: Louis Beigel (President), Nathan Greenberg (Vice-President), J. M. Teitelbaum (Secretary), Louis Rosenbloom (Treasurer), B. Krakover (Warden), J. Schwartz (Guardian), H. Teitelbaum (Monitor), Harris Melsher (Trustee), I. Greenberg (Trustee), and A. M. Levine (Trustee). The lodge appears to have closed sometime before October 1915, when residents from Charleroi, Donora, and Monessen came together to form B’nai B’rith Monongahela Lodge No. 776. A second B’nai B’rith Charleroi Lodge was installed March 3, 1940 and was renamed the Marshall Haas Lodge in late 1947 in memory a local Jewish man who had been killed in action during World War II.
The Monongahela Valley Young Men’s Hebrew Association was founded in 1915, representing young Jewish men from Brownsville, California, Charleroi, Coal Centre, and Roscoe. The Monongahela Valley Young Women’s Hebrew Association was established as early as 1916 with the following officers: Sara Abramowitz (President), Ceelia Wind (Viec-President), Sara Rosenthal (Secretary), Josephine Lipman (Assistant Secretary), and Helen Wilbur (Treasurer).
The Union of American Hebrew Congregations’ Synagogue and School Extension Program started a religious school in Charleroi in early 1915 with Mrs. Nathan Greenberg serving as principal and Mrs. Louis Collins and Sarah Abramowitz as teachers.
The Monongahela Valley Section of the Council of Jewish Women started a religious school as early as January 1921, holding its first confirmation ceremony in June 1921. The school was overseen by a Jewish Mother’s Club. The school later joined the Southwestern District of Pennsylvania Jewish Religious Schools program.
| Type | Year | Population | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish population [Charleroi] | 1919 | 75 | American Jewish Yearbook, Vol. 21 [1919-1920] |
| Jewish population [Charleroi] | 1927 | 300 | American Jewish Yearbook, Vol. 30 [1928-1929] |
| Jewish population [Charleroi] | 1937 | 225 | American Jewish Yearbook, Vol. 42 [1940-1941] |
| Jewish population [Charleroi] | 1951 | 144 | American Jewish Yearbook, Vol. 52 [1951] |
| Total population [Charleroi] | 1900 | 5,930 | U.S. Census via Wikipedia |
| Total population [Charleroi] | 1910 | 9,615 | U.S. Census via Wikipedia |
| Total population [Charleroi] | 1920 | 11,516 | U.S. Census via Wikipedia |
| Total population [Charleroi] | 1930 | 11,260 | U.S. Census via Wikipedia |
| Total population [Charleroi] | 1940 | 10,784 | U.S. Census via Wikipedia |
| Total population [Charleroi] | 1950 | 9,872 | U.S. Census via Wikipedia |
| Total population [Charleroi] | 1960 | 8,148 | U.S. Census via Wikipedia |
| Total population [Charleroi] | 1970 | 6,723 | U.S. Census via Wikipedia |
| Total population [Charleroi] | 1980 | 5,717 | U.S. Census via Wikipedia |
| Total population [Charleroi] | 1990 | 5,014 | U.S. Census via Wikipedia |
| Total population [Charleroi] | 2000 | 4,871 | U.S. Census via Wikipedia |
| Total population [Charleroi] | 2010 | 4,120 | U.S. Census via Wikipedia |
| Total population [Charleroi] | 2020 | 4,234 | U.S. Census via Wikipedia |
