Leavenworth ? An expert on Jewish history says a former temple in Leavenworth is the oldest Jewish place of worship in Kansas.

Jerry Klinger is president of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation. He recently told the Leavenworth County Historical Society that the Temple B’Nai Jeshurun in downtown Leavenworth was a significant structure in Jewish history in the Midwest.

Klinger wants the Historical Society to erect an interpretive marker at the Leavenworth site. He says he would provide the marker at no cost to the public.

The Leavenworth Times reports that the B’Nai Jeshurun Congregation was established in 1859 and built the temple in 1866. It was a temple until the 1970s, when the congregation apparently dissolved.

The building has been an apartment complex since the 1970s.