[5] The original building also featured a 30-foot (9.1 m) high ceiling in the sanctuary,[4] and two large "onion"-style domes outside capping the towers placed on either side of the front entrance,[3] making it an example of Moorish Revival architecture.

[6] However, after the turn of the 20th century, the congregation fell upon hard economic times, and by the 1930s the Jewish population of Helena was too small to maintain the building.

[4] The leader of the remaining congregation, Norman Winestine, arranged to sell off the organ and pews to the Seventh-Day Adventists,[6] and the State of Montana bought the temple for $1, promising to use the building for "a good and social purpose.

"[3] The state remodeled the building in 1935–1936, adding a second floor over what had been the sanctuary, removed the onion domes,[2] as well as most of the religious symbols on the exterior, some by sandblasting.

Austin Vetter, bishop of the Helena Diocese made the decision to first offer the opportunity to buy the building and some surrounding property to the Jewish community.

Forming a mutual aid organization called the United Hebrew Benevolent Society in 1866, they became a major economic force in the city, owning 17 of Helena's 20 dry goods stores by 1867.

[3] In 1871, merchant Jacob Feldberg was nicknamed "Helena's Paul Revere for his courage in organizing a bucket brigade that saved his entire neighborhood from a fire.

Lissner's hotel repeatedly burned during the many fires that plagued Helena's business district in the 1860s and 1870s, yet he rebuilt it each time until it was nicknamed "The Phoenix."

Other members of Helena's Jewish community made significant contributions to the city, such as Josephine Israel, who not only supported the building of the temple, but also was the founder of Shodair Children's Hospital.

[11] Other active Jewish communities, mostly Reform Judaism in affiliation,[11] are found in Great Falls, Billings, the Flathead valley and Whitefish, Helena, Missoula, and Butte.