History of Temple Aaron

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

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