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Friday, October 24, 2008

Friday Five Moving


Singing Owl posted this FF, " Tell us about the five favorite places you have lived in your lifetime. What did you like? What kind of place was it? Anything special happen there?"

These are not my favorite places, just my five first places...

1. First residence Stambaugh St. Girard, Oh. I've talked about this before. My parents first house. It was a little Cape Cod attached to the property that was where my mother was born and where the family house rested. My Aunt, Uncle and cousin lived there. In between a huge backyard and orchard with Italian prune plum trees, sweet and sour cherry trees, peaches and pear trees, apple trees, a mulberry tree, a quince bush, and more all planted by my grandfather, John/Giovanni. The store, Yezzo's market was just up the street.

2. Second Residence, Ward Ave, Oh., Kind of like moving to the suburbs, though the suburbs of what? It was very differenc. Can't say I liked it, but I had my own room.

3. Then I moved to New York and lived in the end of a hallway in the English Basement of a townhouse in the West Village. It was curtained off and cost $15.00 per week. Had to be my favorite because it was my first place on my own in NYC!

4. Moved to a tenement in the East Village. We had two fires while I lived there. One was so bad I had to move out while the rebuild the walls and replaced the windows. Probably my least favorite.

5. Then I moved two blocks away, across the street from St. Marks in the Bowery:
The apartment was prewar-lots of nice windows and other architectural details. Lost it in the 'divorce.' I was there to watch the 1978 fire at St. Marks.

History and architecture of St. Marks
In 1651, Peter Stuyvesant, Governor of New Amsterdam, 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. Marks Church. Stuyvesant died in 1678 and was interred in a vault under the chapel.

Stuyvesant's great-grandson, Petrus, would donate the chapel property to Episcopal Church in 1793, stipulating that a new chapel be erected and in 1795 the cornerstone of the present day St. Mark's Church was laid. The church was completed and consecrated in 1799. Alexander Hamilton would then provide legal aid in incorporating St. Mark's Church as the first Episcopal Parish independent of Trinity Church in the new world.

In 1828, the church steeple, designed by Martin E. Thomson and Ithiel Towne is erected. Soon after the two-story fieldstone Sunday School is completed. In 1838, St. Mark's Church establishes the Parish Infant School for poor children. Later, in 1861, St Mark's Church commissioned a brick addition, designed and supervised by architect James Renwick, Jr. and the St. Mark's Hospital Association is organized by members of St. Mark's. And at the start of the 20th century, leading architect Ernest Flagg designed the rectory.

While the 19th century saw St Mark's Church grow through its many construction projects the 20th century would be marked by community service and cultural expansion. Several Dutch dignitaries made stops by the church on their visit to the states. In 1952, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands would visit the church and lay a wreath given by her mother, Queen Wilhelmina, at the bust of Peter Stuyvesant. And later, in 1981 and 1982, Princess Margriet and Queen Beatrix, both of the Netherlands would visit.

In 1966, The Poetry Project and The Film Project (later to become the Millennium Film Workshop), were founded. And in 1975, The Danspace Project is founded by Larry Fagin; the Community Documentation Workshop under the direction of Arthur Tobler is established; and the Preservation Youth Project expands to a full-time Work Training Program and under the supervision of artisan teachers undertakes mission of the preserving St Mark's landmark exterior.

On July 27, 1978, a fire nearly destroyed St. Mark's Church. The Citizens to Save St Mark's was founded to raise funds for its reconstruction and the Preservation Youth Project undertakes the reconstruction supervised by architects Harold Edleman 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. Restoration finished in 1986."


11 comments:

Sally said...

wow, I love that history section...hope you live in a place that is good for you now.

Anonymous said...

I've only seen a bit of New York but I can see the attraction. Not sure I could live there, though!

Anonymous said...

thanks for providing the history of St. Mark's--very interesting!

wonderful play--as always! how cool to have lived in the place your mother was born!

Teri said...

you've led an interesting life so far! Thanks for sharing some of the story...

Barbara B. said...

$15.00 per week -- WOW! Can't beat that price.

Cool reading about all this!!!

And Yezzo's Market sounds like something they'd have on Sesame Street. (Sorry, watched that show way too much with my kids when they were growing up.) :)

Muthah+ said...

The real question is do you go to St. Marks?

Katy V. said...

$15 a week---sweet? Did it have rent control?

Elaine (aka...Purple) said...

The huge backyard, the orchard...and Yezzo's up the street. I love the name...Yezzo's. Fun play.

Auntie Knickers said...

Great play. What is an English Basement?

Dorcas (aka SingingOwl) said...

Wow! What an interesting mix!

LutheranChik said...

I think your $15-a-week hallway home beats my old down-the-street college neighbors who lived in a muchly subdivided old house, on/in the enclosed front porch. Yup; that's it;just the porch. In the winter the windows would be all Visqueened and billowing outward from the escaping heat. They had housemates who dwelt in an old garage whose door had been replaced with a big sheet of plywood.