Summary of my recent visit to Norfolk area old synagogues and cemeteries
Below are seven historic synagogue buildings and cemeteries in Norfolk and Portsmouth VA that I visited in April of 2021. This post is not about the history of these locations, rather its intent is to serve as a guide for others visiting Norfolk who are interested in visiting these Jewish historic locations. I will include whatever information I could quickly find online, but I did not try to contact any of the locations in an attempt to view the interiors or get them unlocked.
1. Chevra T'hilim 607 Effingham St, Portsmouth, VA 23704. The building is easy to find. When I drove by, it was closed and locked. The synagogue was opened in 1922 and is no longer in use. See here for a great deal of information about Chevra Thilim and here about the current state of the building which seems to have been converted to a Jewish museum.
2. Gomlei Chesed 519 County St Portsmouth, VA 23704. The building is currently a Knights of Columbus and is easy to find. I looked briefly and was unable to find a cornerstone which makes sense as according to this document (click the 'next' link to go to page 5) the building was originally a church before being purchased by the Gomlei Chesed in 1901.
3. Chevra Thilim and Gomlei Chesed Cemetery 3508 Bellport Ave, Portsmouth, VA 23704.
The cemetery is across the street from the above address. The cemetery is L shaped going from Bellport Ave to George Washington Highway. The Bellport side is Chevra Thilim and the George Washington side is Gomlei Chesed. The cemetery is not locked.
Link to www.findagrave.com
4. Workmens Circle Cemetery 1123 Railroad Ave, Chesapeake, VA 23324. The cemetery is across the street from the above address, which is almost at the end of a dead end road. The cemetery was locked.
Link to www.findagrave.com
5. Mikro Kodesh Synagogue 411 E Liberty St, Norfolk, VA 23523.
The building is now the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith. It's easy to find.
The cornerstone reads "Erected 1921". I did not notice a Star of David, but there were Kohanim hands high up on the front of the building.
6. Mikro Kodesh Cemetery 3133 Kemet Rd, Chesapeake, VA 23325. The path that leads to the cemetery is across the street from the above address. The back of the cemetery is slightly visible from Berkley Ave but is mostly blocked by a fence and overgrown bushes. The cemetery was locked.
Link to www.findagrave.com
7. Bnai Israel/United Orthodox Synagogue 463 Spotswood Ave, Norfolk, VA 23517. The building is easy to find. It is an active orthodox synagogue. The building was originally the United Orthodox synagogue which was a merge of the Twentieth Street Synagogue and K’hal Chasidim from downtown. Although many rooms have been added and the synagogue campus has been expanded, the main sanctuary is the original United Orthodox building. The cornerstone reads "United Orthodox Synagogue 1946". See more on the synagogue's website.
I did not get a chance to visit two cemeteries in Norfolk proper - Hebrew Cemetery at 1200 Tidewater Dr, Norfolk, VA 23504 and Bnai Israel Cemetery at 2750 Cromwell Rd, Norfolk, VA 23509. I also did not get a chance to stop at Ohef Shalom, a 103 year old Synagogue at 812 Stockley Gardens, Norfolk, VA 23507. You can read more about early Jewish life in Norfolk in general and Ohef Shalom in particular here.
Samuel Gruber who blogs about Jewish art and Synagogues wrote a post about Norfolk and Chevra T'hilim which I only discovered after I had already visited. You can read his post here.
If anyone has information on how to access the locked cemeteries, please reach out so I can update the post.