Sep. 5—Nearly 150 years ago, Las Vegas, N.M., was a center of Jewish life in what was then the New Mexico Territory.

"There was a wave of immigration from Eastern Europe in the 1880s, and many of them came over on the Santa Fe Trail," said Nancy Terr, who has researched the subject.

"They really set up shop and started all sorts of trade," she said. "They became merchants, many of them ... and did very well and built important buildings around town."

Among them is Temple Montefiore, the first Jewish house of worship in the New Mexico Territory.

As the Jewish population dwindled over time, the synagogue was sold to the Catholic Church in the 1950s, and it has remained in its possession since then, serving as a campus ministry for students at New Mexico Highlands University.

Members of the Jewish community now have an opportunity to buy it back.

With a resurgence of Jews in Las Vegas — and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe liquidating assets to raise funds for a settlement with victims of clergy sexual abuse — the Jewish community has embarked on a fundraising campaign to purchase the building and return it to its original roots.

"The archdiocese is pleased that it is the Jewish community which will reacquire this historic site," Leslie Radigan, an archdiocese spokeswoman, wrote in an email.

It may not be an easy feat, though.

"When we first got the call that this [building] was available — because we've been asking for a long time, and we just thought, 'Oh no, they're never going to sell it' — they told us we had 60 days to raise the money if an offer was accepted, and now they cut that down to 30, so I don't know what's going to happen," said Terr, who is involved in fundraising efforts.

Although Terr and Radigan declined to disclose the purchase price of the building and an adjoining lot with a house, Terr said the campaign has received donations and a bridge loan but is short about $110,000.

The GoFundMe page lists a fundraising goal of $200,000; Terr said that figure includes remodeling and other costs. So far, less than $6,200 has been raised on GoFundMe, but Terr said the campaign has collected donations through other methods, including checks by mail.

The deadline to raise the remaining funds to complete the sale: Sept. 16.

"I don't know if it can be done," she said. "We're hoping many people will donate."

That's how the original building got off the ground.

According to a GoFundMe page, Congregation Montefiore began a fundraising campaign to build a permanent synagogue in Las Vegas in 1884.

"All that may favor us with their donations, their names will be placed on our Roll of Honor, which will be deposited in the archives of the temple," according to a fundraising appeal from 1886. "We hope our efforts will be crowned with success, and our temple, when finished, will be an honor to ourselves and in the future an acceptable inheritance to the children of Israel, whose aim it will forever be to perpetuate the principals [sic] and precepts of Judaism."

Records show more than half the donations came from people who weren't part of the congregation, Terr said.

The synagogue was dedicated in 1886 just before Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year, according to the Jewish Museum of the American West. In 1922, the building was moved a few blocks away to its current location at 901 8th St.

Mayor Louie Trujillo said he was "thrilled" with the prospect of the Jewish community taking back ownership of the synagogue.

"I couldn't be happier that this is happening," he said. "I attribute the economic stability of Las Vegas in the past, in our history, to the Jewish people who were so generous in building businesses and starting businesses here in our community. ... This is the farthest West the train came, and a lot of people from the East, like New York and Chicago, came here as merchants to sell their wares, and they developed a beautiful downtown."

Jewish people helped make Las Vegas "one of the largest trade centers in Western America at one point," the mayor said.

"The Jewish synagogue, which is now the Newman Center on the NMHU campus, was the first Jewish synagogue in the Southwest, so the opportunity for the Jewish community to purchase [the building] is remarkable," he said.

Trujillo said he didn't know whether the city could contribute financially but pledged the city's assistance in facilitating the deal.

"Hopefully this would bring more Jewish tourists to Las Vegas because at one time, Las Vegas was the largest Jewish settlement in the Southwest," he said. "I'm very grateful for the Jewish community in helping us economically in the history of Las Vegas. They played a pivotal role in our existence."

Terr's brother, Lewis Terr, an Albuquerque-based attorney who has been working with the archdiocese on the purchase, said their parents moved to Las Vegas after the synagogue was sold to the Catholic Church, which allowed the Jewish community to use the building for religious services after the purchase.

"The acquisition of that temple really means a lot to all the members of the Jewish community up there and probably others as well," he said. "It seems like the right resolution of the history of that place."

Lewis Terr said the sale of the building would also help the archdiocese, which is using the proceeds to help fund a $121.5 million settlement in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case that stems from allegations from hundreds of people of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.

"I realize I am not a guy who expresses a lot of emotion when I speak; I might sound like a grumpy old guy when I speak, which I probably am," he said. "But nevertheless, this is really a fantastic opportunity and really a big deal for the Jewish community there."

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.