Tel Aviv’s First Building

IsraelTel Aviv

The first building of Tel Aviv was the house of Reuven Segal, one of the founders of the city.

Reuven Segal was born in Romania in 1880 and immigrated to Israel with his parents at the age of two. He studied at Mikveh Israel School, and then began to work in commerce.

In 1907, Reuven joined the Achuzat Bayit association, and in the famous lottery of the plots won a parcel on the street that is now Yehuda Halevi number 25. Reuven began building his house immediately after the lottery, even before he received the required license from the Ottoman authorities (by paying a bribe…), and thanks to this it was his house that was completed first in the new neighborhood.

Later the house was purchased by the Halpen family. It was demolished in 1927, in favor of constructing a two-story building. This building in turn was demolished in 1965 to make way for a parking lot, and today the same plot houses the Israel Discount Bank tower.

(Anecdote authored by: עמיר)

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