Jews had probably resided in Dąbrowa since the 16th century. However, the first surviving sources confirm their presence in the 17th century. It is also known that there was already a synagogue in the town in 1697 and a few years later, a Jewish community (kehila). After the town was granted municipal rights at the end of the 17th century, the town experienced rapid growth, including demographic development. New residents, including many Jews, came to Dąbrowa. In 1765, there were 823. They were mainly engaged in trade and craft, and ran taverns and distilleries. The Jewish population contributed significantly to economic development, both of the town of Dąbrowa and its surroundings. Dąbrowa’s first synagogue, dating from the 1^7th century, was probably located in the Jewish-populated eastern part of the town, on a street running directly from the market square to the route to Szczucin. Nearby, just outside the town, was the Jewish cemetery (‘kirkut’), which still exists today. The synagogue was a wooden building. It had a typical layout with a spacious men’s prayer room, a church porch adjoining it on the west side, and a room for the rabbi, also used as a singers’ room and a boys’ school (cheder) classroom. Historical sources repeat the information that the synagogue was destroyed by fire in the second half of the 1^8th century. A stone one was built in its place. In the 1930s, it was referred to as the Old Synagogue. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the town also had at least a few shtiebels – private houses of prayer (rooms or chambers in residential houses or in the buildings of Jewish institutions).