St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery

In 1651, Petrus Stuyvesant, Director General of New Netherland, purchased land for a bowery or farm from the Dutch West India Company and by 1660 built a family chapel at the present day site of St. Mark's Church. Stuyvesant died in 1672 and was interred in a vault under the chapel. Stuyvesant's great-grandson, Petrus "Peter" Stuyvesant, sold the chapel property to the Episcopal Church for $1 in 1793, In 1795 the cornerstone of the present day St. Mark's Church was laid, and the fieldstone Georgian style church, built by the architect and mason John McComb Jr., was completed and consecrated on May 9, 1799. At around the same time, the two-story fieldstone Sunday School was completed, and the church established the Parish Infant School for poor children. Later, in 1861, the church commissioned a brick addition to the Parish Hall, which was designed and supervised by architect James Renwick Jr., and the St. Mark's Hospital Association was organized by members of the congregation. Outside the church, the cast iron portico, was added around 1858; its design is attributed to James Bogardus, who was an early innovator in cast iron construction. In 1966, the Poetry Project and The Film Project, which later became the Millennium Film Workshop, were founded. Furthermore, in 1975, the Danspace Project was founded by Larry Fagin; the Community Documentation Workshop under the direction of Arthur Tobier was established; and the Preservation Youth Project expanded to a full-time work training program, which undertook the mission of the preserving St Mark's landmark exterior under the supervision of artisan teachers. On July 27, 1978, a fire nearly destroyed the church. The Citizens to Save St Mark's was founded to raise funds for its reconstruction and the Preservation Youth Project undertook the reconstruction supervised by architect Harold Edelman and craftspeople provided by preservation contractor I. Maas & Sons. The Landmark Fund emerged from the Citizens to Save St Mark's and continues to exist to help maintain and preserve St. Mark's Church for future generations. The restoration was completed in 1986, with new stained-glass windows designed by Edelman. ==Usage==

Rector William Guthrie was known to incorporate Native American, Hindu, Buddhist, and Bahá'í ceremonies and guest speakers into services. Today, the rectory houses the Neighborhood Preservation Center, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the Historic Districts Council, as well as other preservation and community organizations such as the Poetry Project, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, New York Theatre Ballet and the Danspace Project. The arts St Mark's has supported an active artistic community since the 19th century. In 1919 poet Kahlil Gibran was appointed a member of the St. Mark's Arts Committee, and the next year, the two prominent Indian statues, "Aspiration" and "Inspiration" by sculptor Solon Borglum, which flank the church entry, were unveiled. Gibran also presented readings of his famous written works, and Danspace Project, which stage events throughout the year. A November 1971 Poetry Project reading by Patti Smith, accompanied by Lenny Kaye on guitar, launched their rock and roll careers and marked the founding of the Patti Smith Group. In addition, Richard Foreman's avant-garde Ontological-Hysteric Theater was also housed there in its own space from 1992 until 2010. ==Notable burials==

Both the church's East and West Yards have under them stone burial vaults, in which many prominent New Yorkers were interred. Although it no longer does full body burials, the church still does cremation burials in the church vault under the West Yard. • Miriam Friedlander (1914–2009) – was a Bronx born American politician who represented the city council district in New York City's Lower East Side and Chinatown from 1974 to 1991. • Augustus van Horne Ellis – lawyer, sea captain, and a brevet brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War; killed in action at the Battle of Gettysburg • Thomas Addis Emmet – lawyer and politician who served as New York State Attorney General • Nicholas Fish (1758–1833) – Revolutionary War soldier, who later served as adjutant general of New York State; father of New York Governor and United States Senator Hamilton Fish (1808–1893). • Charles G. Haines – Adjutant General of New York • Josiah Ogden Hoffman – lawyer and politician • Philip Hone (1780–1851) – merchant and Mayor of New York. • John Brooks Leavitt – attorney, Senior Warden of St. Mark's • Gideon Lee (1778–1841) – Mayor of New York and United States Representative. • Peter Stuyvesant (1612–1672) – Director-General of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. • Daniel D. Tompkins (1774–1825) – Vice President of the United States under President James Monroe and former Governor of New York. ==See also==