Kahal Kadosh Elohim Synagogue

Preservation South Carolina, the South Carolina Department of Archives and History and the Governor’s Office, are proud to recognize Historic Coming Street Cemetery with the 2026 Stewardship Award for its outstanding commitment to preserving one of South Carolina's most significant historic and cultural landmarks.

Hidden behind pre-Revolutionary War brick walls in the heart of downtown Charleston, Historic Coming Street Cemetery is the oldest surviving Jewish cemetery in the American South. Established in the eighteenth century and owned by Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue since 1764, the cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as the final resting place of more than 900 individuals whose lives helped shape the history of Charleston, South Carolina, and the nation.

The cemetery reflects the remarkable legacy of one of America's earliest and most influential Jewish communities. Among those interred are Revolutionary War patriots, veterans of the War of 1812, the Seminole War, the Civil War, and World War II, as well as distinguished merchants, industrialists, educators, physicians, civic leaders, and pioneers. Notable individuals include Penina Moise, one of America's first published Jewish female poets; Rachel Lazarus, an early female business owner on King Street; David Lopez, builder of Charleston's historic Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue; and several founders of the Mother Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite.

For more than fifteen years, the Coming Street Cemetery Restoration Committee has demonstrated exceptional stewardship of this extraordinary site. Through dedicated fundraising, grant writing, and volunteer leadership, the committee has restored hundreds of historic grave markers, the cemetery's distinctive wrought ironwork, two of its pre-Revolutionary brick walls, and the rare Lopez stone canopy tomb. Their work has been supported by grants from the Daughters of the American Revolution, federal historic preservation funding, private foundations, and generous community donors.

Beyond preservation, the committee has made education and public engagement central to its mission. Volunteer docents provide guided tours and educational programs that share the history of Charleston's Jewish community with visitors, students, and scholars from around the world. The cemetery also serves as a hands-on preservation laboratory for Clemson University graduate students studying historic preservation, providing invaluable training in cemetery conservation and stone restoration.

Through decades of thoughtful planning, sustained fundraising, and unwavering dedication, Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim and the Coming Street Cemetery Restoration Committee have ensured that this nationally significant historic site will continue to educate, inspire, and honor the generations who came before us. Their exemplary stewardship preserves not only a remarkable cemetery, but an essential chapter in the history of South Carolina and the United States.