 Built in 1859–1860, it was the first area of Jewish settlement in Jerusalem outside the Old City walls, and was one of the first structures to be built outside the Old City of Jerusalem, the others being Kerem Avraham, the Schneller Orphanage, Bishop Gobat school and the Russian Compound.Mishkenot Sha'anim was built by British Jewish banker and philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore in 1860, having acquired the land from the Governor of Jerusalem, Ahmad Agha Duzdar.It was built as an almshouse, paid for by the estate of an American Jewish businessman from New Orleans, Judah Touro.