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Trinidad Chronicle News, November 12, 2025: Nancy Ellis With continuing good weather, Phase I of the re-roofing project at Trinidad’s historic Temple Aaron is well underway. A group of masons from Salida has been tuckpointing brick on the north side of the 1889 building, and soon will begin installing new roofing, according to Karl Gabrielson, whose company Trinidad Community Construction is managing the project. With a $237,000 grant from the State Historical Fund (including

November 2025

TOTAL FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN ESTIMATE: $2.25 million L’dor v’dor Endowment: $1,000,000 To ensure the continuity of basic operations and maintenance for another 100 years, an endowment will be created. A new regional model of Temple membership and affiliation, from Albuquerque to Denver and from Santa Fe to Boulder, is being created to ensure ongoing programming to keep the Temple operationally viable and strong. Raise the Roof Campaign: $500,000 The Temple’s complex, one of a k

The excerpt below is from the Western States Jewish History Quarterly, published by the Southern California Jewish Historical Society in October, 1978.

September 2016: The Rubin Family (Kathryn Rubin, 93, and her two sons, Ron Rubin of Colorado Springs and Randy Rubin of Raton, NM), who had been the caretakers of the Temple for 30 years, make the painful decision to close the Temple just before the High Holidays. For the first time since 1883, no services are conducted in Trinidad. Building is put up for sale. Closure is the subject of a front-page article in the Denver Post. The building needs significant and costly repairs

RENEWED OPTIMISM IN EFFORTS TO SAVE THE OLDEST SYNAGOGUE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS   The most historic synagogue 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 th

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.

HISTORICAL Temple Aaron is designated a United States National Historic Landmark Temple Aaron was one of 16 sites across the country to receive National Historic Landmark (NHL) designation in December, 2023. NHLs are some of the nation’s most historically important buildings and sites, and are chosen for their historical, archeological, architectural,and cultural significance. After a rigorous nomination and review process, Temple Aaron was deemed to have national historic si

Rocky Mountain PBS TRINIDAD, Colo. — Once again, public media saves the day. In the fall of 2016, Littleton-resident Neal Paul was listening to a Colorado Public Radio story on Temple Aaron, a Trinidad synagogue that was preparing to close its doors for the first time in 127 years. Paul, a Jewish man born in Israel and whose parents survived the Holocaust, decided to visit the temple in person to “see what it was all about.” This was Paul’s first time in the city of Trinidad,

By Ryan Warner March 27, 2024 Ryan Warner/CPR News A crowd gathers in front of Temple Aaron in Trinidad, Colorado on March 23, 2024. The synagogue was named a National Historic Landmark. A small-town synagogue in Southern Colorado was once considered endangered. Now it's received the strongest historic protection there is. How a community of Jews and non-Jews in Trinidad and beyond, saved Temple Aaron. Then, after the death of his younger sister, Denver comedian Adam Cayton-H

When people think of Jewish immigration in the United States, they picture the tenements of New York City. But what about the boomtowns of the West? Temple Aaron, located in Trinidad, Colorado, is nationally significant for its connection with the westward migration of Jewish immigrants from Europe between 1840-1924. Temple Aaron, street view, photo and article by Astrid Liverman/NPS Temple Aaron is the second-oldest known synagogue in continuous use in its original location