25 St. Mark’s Place Building Date : 1832 Original Use : Residential Original Owner : Thomas E. Davis Original Architect : Unknown Description & Building Alterations According to tax assessment records, this building was constructed in 1832-33 by Thomas E. Davis as a Federal style rowhouse. Davis was a prolific real estate developer and purchased property on the south and north sides of Eighth Street in 1831. The property was originally part of Peter Stuyvesant’s Bouwerie. Davis named the block after nearby St. Mark’s church and developed homes on large lots to attract New Yorkers of wealth. The house features a plain facade and an arched Gibbs doorway surround with squarish blocks that interrupt the surrounding bands. Doorway surround, window lintels and sills are now painted black. In 1882 and again in 1888, the building, now owned by Nicholas Schultz, was expanded and used as multiple family dwelling.

29 St. Mark’s Place Building Date : 1833 Original Use : Residential Original Owner : Thomas E. Davis Original Architect : Unknown Description & Building Alterations This property was once part of Peter Stuyvesant’s Bouwerie and purchased by real estate developer Thomas E. Davis, who developed Eighth Street into St. Mark’s Place. It was built as a single-family home of three stories in 1833 and tenementized in the 1870s. From 1856 through 1859, this building hosted the Harmonie Club, a German-Jewish singing club. By the late 19th century, the building was most likely being used as a boarding or lodging house, as many colorful incidents of various residents’ were reported during the time. In the 1930s, the building housed offices for Polish organizations and businesses. Artist-poet George Schneeman lived with his wife Katie and their family in this building from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. Schneedman was the unofficial artist-in-residence of the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, who worked often with poet-collaborators Bill Berkson and Ron Padget

27 St. Mark’s Place Building Date : 1893 Original Use : Residential Original Owner : Fay & Stacom Original Architect : Charles Rentz Description & Building Alterations This Old Law tenement was built in 1893 by architect Charles Rentz as a six-story masonry building and basement flat. The building’s original lintels remain and the second floor features highly ornamented detailed carvings and decorative trim. The previous building on this site was occupied by the Children’s Aid Society in the 1880’s prior to moving to Nos. 307 & 309 E 12th Street. 27 St. Mark’s Place served as the Children’s Aid Society’s Girls’ Lodging House from 1872 to 1892. The Children’s Aid Society was founded by clergymen and social reformers concerned about the general condition of homeless, delinquent and neglected children in 1853. Lodging Houses were opened to house homeless youth and an emigration program was initiated to send children off to homes in the country. The emigration program became more widely known as the “Orphan Train” utilizing the railroad network to move children westward.