EAST—This summer, the Conservancy completed rehabilitation work on the shoyket’s house and mikveh at the New England Hebrew Farmers of the Emanuel Society Preserve, which protects the remains of the 19th–20th-century Jewish settlement of Chesterfield. The work was carried out by stone mason Derek Pepin.
Site features include the foundation of the community synagogue and the shoyket’s (ritual butcher’s) house. A ritual bath, or mikveh, was constructed in the lower portion of this house for the women of the community. Studied by the University of Connecticut, the site is a remarkable example of an early rural Jewish community in the region; the presence of the mikveh is particularly distinctive and sheds light on how immigrant communities maintained their traditions after arriving in the United States.
The project involved relaying fallen stones, reparging foundation walls, removing intrusive vegetation, installing steel bracing along the walls, and building a larger, improved cover for the mikveh. The Conservancy is grateful to the New England Hebrew Farmers of the Emanuel Society—descendants of the community that lived at the site—for funding the bracing work, and to our management committee for patiently reviewing proposals and sharing their expertise.
Pictured: A new cover on the mikveh and steel bracing along the walls will protect the foundation into the future. Photo by Derek Pepin.
