Touro Synagogue of Jeshuat Israel Congregation, founded in 1658, includes the oldest synagogue building in the United States, designed by Peter Harrison. Ground was broken August 1, 1759, and it was dedicated on December 2, 1763. Here, from 1781 to 1784, the Rhode Island General Assembly met, and during George Washington’s visit to Newport in 1781 a town meeting was held here. The State Supreme Court held sessions here at that period. The building was reopened for religious services on August 2, 1850. In 1790 George Washington wrote to this congregation that “Happily the Government of the United States . . . gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”
