The first Jews arrived in Jackson in 1842, but establising a temple awaited ten men to make a minyan. The highly transient group had to wait until the early 1860s for a temple to begin in 1860s.
Beth Israel Cemetery: Temple Beth Israel's 1-acre cemetery N. West Avenue between West Avenue and Carr Street, just south of the railroad tracks was established in 1859 and contains more tan 270 burials. The cemetery is expected to be included on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan via the National Park Service. News story. [July 2009]