[1] This guesthouse was one of the first structures to be built outside the Old City, the others being Kerem Avraham, the Schneller Orphanage, Bishop Gobat school, and the Russian Compound.

[2] Mishkenot Sha'ananim was built by British Jewish banker and philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore in 1860, after he acquired the land from the Governor of Jerusalem, Ahmad Agha Duzdar.

[3] On the night of 1 January 1873, Aaron Hershler was standing guard at the Montefiore Windmill, when a group of Arab Muslims from Silwan attempted to rob his family's home in Mishkenot Sha'ananim.

He is one of approximately three dozen Jews killed during Ottoman-ruled Palestine, who are commemorated as part of Israeli's annual Yom Hazikaron memorial day.

[1] As an incentive, people were paid to live there, and a stone wall was built around the compound with a heavy door that was locked at night for defense.