A Synagogue Story

When I saw the photos of the collapsed synagogue in Mahoney City, I thought about Agudas Achim on 2nd, St. in Allentown. Actually, there is an identical synagogue as Mahoney City in Lehighton, built at the same time by the same builder in 1923. Mahoney City never had more than fifty Jewish families, and now only one elderly Jew remains.

Beyond the collapse, there is a side story playing out about the former synagogue's stained glass windows. After the synagogue closed in around 2005, they ended up in a synagogue on Long Island several years later. The cemetery for the old coal town congregation is essentially abandoned and out of maintenance funds. Descendants, who no longer live there are trying to get remunerated for the windows. Before the collapse, the Long Island representative stated that they saved the windows from neglect. That statement turned out truer than known at the time.

What brings this story to this Allentown blog are two tie-ins. Cable TV was started in Mahoney City by John Walton, who then moved to Allentown and created Service Electric. On a personal note, years ago I questioned an uncle why they were selling the former Agudas Achim on 2nd. St. He explained that the remaining few elderly members had found an appropriate buyer, who would repurpose and maintain the building in compliance with guidelines for former synagogues.