Zikhron Ya'akov had been founded in December…

Zikhron Ya'akov had been founded in December 1882 when one hundred Jewish pioneers from Romania, members of the Hovevei Zion movement, had purchased land in Zammarin.

The difficulty of working the rocky soil and an outbreak of malaria had led many of the settlers to leave before the year was up.

Baron Rothschild had become the patron of the settlement in 1883 and had drawn up plans for its residential layout and agricultural economy.

Zikhron is one of the first Jewish agricultural colonies to come under the wing of the Baron (along with Rishon LeZion and Rosh Pina), who renames it in memory of his father, James (Ya'akov) Mayer de Rothschild.

To accomplish his first objective, Baron de Rothschild had brought in planners who designed and allotted housing lots along the main road for the use of settlement farmers.

Each lot includes a house facing the street, a long interior courtyard and a rear building for storing agricultural implements.

The French-inspired architecture includes tiled roofs and painted wooden windows.

Each farmer is given a salary and placed under the direction of Elijah Shaid, the Baron's clerk.

The Baron has also commissioned the construction of the Ohel Ya'akov Synagogue, named after his father, to serve the town.

Sparing no expense to build the edifice, the synagogue features a majestic ark made of white marble.

The synagogue opens in 1886 and has conducted daily prayer services continuously to this day.

Following a number of economic failures, in 1885 Rothschild had helped to establish the first winery in Israel, Carmel Winery, together with a bottling factory, in Zikhron Ya'akov.