Touro Synagogue

On the first night of Hanukkah in 1763, Congregation Jeshuat Israel gathered to open their synagogue in Newport — making it the oldest synagogue building still standing in North America. The Palladian structure was designed by Peter Harrison, a British sea captain turned architect. Its existence traces back to Roger Williams, who founded Rhode Island in 1636 on the radical premise that church and state should stay separate — a premise that drew Jewish settlers to Newport a generation later. The congregation still holds services here.