Locals have long called the Isaac M. Wise Temple the Plum Street Temple or simply the Wise Temple, and here it is in front of you. This is an historic Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue erected in honor of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, one of the founders of Reform Judaism in the United States. The building before you was designed by Cincinnati architect James Keys Wilson and its bold look was inspired by the Alhambra at Granada.
You are standing at 720 Plum Street, on a sanctuary that was built chiefly during the Civil War at a cost of $275,000 — $6.05 million in 2025 dollars — and was dedicated here on Friday, August 24, 1866. It remains among the oldest synagogue buildings in the United States. Walk its stones and you’ll feel that 19th-century ambition that led this congregation to create a landmark of faith and architecture.
In recognition of that role and its striking design, the Plum Street Temple was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975 for its architecture and its role in the Reform movement. Across Plum Street sit Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral and the site where St. Paul Episcopal Cathedral stood before its 1937 demolition, both within your view.