Historic Marker Unveiled at Beth Shalom Cemetery

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)- A historic marker was unveiled at one of the most historic cemeteries in America on Sunday.

The Columbia Jewish Heritage Initiative partnered with the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina and Historic Columbia to dedicate a South Carolina Historical Marker at the Beth Shalom Cemetery.

Founded in 1883 by the Hebrew Cemetery Society of Columbia, the “free cemetery or burial ground for Hebrews” was one of the earliest of its kind in America. Burials include Orthodox Jews from Columbia and beyond with the cemetery’s oldest extant marker designating the burial of Arthur Benedict of Abbeville, S.C., who died in 1884.

In 1911, the House of Peace (Beth Shalom) Synagogue assumed management of the cemetery, and over time, it became recognized as a burial ground specifically for the synagogue’s members.