St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery

The second oldest church building in Manhattan, Saint Mark's is a survivor from the period when the East Village was sparsely populated. The land on which the church is built, the former site of Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant’s private chapel (Stuyvesant is buried in the churchyard), was sold to the Episcopal Church for one dollar by Stuyvesant’s great-grandson. The original fieldstone church was a simple pedimented structure with beautifully proportioned window openings. In 1828, by which time the area around the church was developing into the city’s most affluent residential neighborhood, a stylish Greek Revival tower was constructed, turning the church into one of the most prominent buildings in the vicinity. An Italianate cast-iron portico was added in 1854. As the community changed over the years, the church building deteriorated significantly; at the same time the Saint Mark’s congregation developed into one of the most politically and socially committed in the city. A restoration project was begun in 1975 that included training local residents in construction; this project, which continued even after a fire severely damaged the church in 1978, was completed in 1983. From the "Guide to New York City Landmarks", courtesy of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.