National Register of Historic Places

Bowne, John, House

New York, Queens County, New York
Listed
September 12, 1977
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
77000974

About this property

The John Bowne House is a house at 37-01 Bowne Street in Flushing, Queens, New York City, that is known for its role in establishing religious tolerance in the United States. Built around 1661, it was the location of a Quaker meeting in 1662 that resulted in the arrest of its owner, John Bowne, by Peter Stuyvesant, Dutch Director-General of New Netherland. Bowne successfully appealed his arrest to the Dutch West India Company and established a precedent for religious tolerance and freedom in the colony. His appeal helped to serve as the basis for the later guarantees of freedom of religion, speech and right of assembly in the Constitution. Many of John Bowne's descendants engaged in abolitionist anti-slavery activism. For example, John's great-grandson Robert Bowne was an early founder with Alexander Hamilton and others of the Manumission Society of New York in 1784. Some of its residents such as Mary Bowne Parsons' son William B. Parsons have also been documented as acting as conductors assisting fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad prior to the American Civil War. The home is a wood-frame Anglo-Dutch Colonial saltbox, notable for its steeply pitched roof with three dormers. The house was altered several times over the centuries, and several generations of the Bowne family lived in the house until 1945, when the family deeded the property to the Bowne Historical Society. The Bowne House became a museum in 1947. The exterior has since been renovated. Archaeological investigations have been conducted by Dr. James A. Moore of Queens College, City University of New York. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and is also a New York City designated landmark.

Location

37-01 Bowne St.
New York, Queens County, New York
40.76301, -73.82525

Categories

ARCHITECTURERELIGION
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Kingsland Homestead
Industrial
0.1 mi
Flushing High School
Industrial
0.2 mi
Flushing Armory
Industrial
0.2 mi
Old Quaker Meetinghouse
Industrial
0.3 mi
Flushing Town Hall
Civil War
0.3 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Pelham
1776Revolutionary War
7 mi
Action at Pell's Point
1776Revolutionary War
7.6 mi

Questions about this property

When was Bowne, John, House listed on the National Register?

Bowne, John, House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 12, 1977.

What type of historic resource is Bowne, John, House?

Bowne, John, House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Bowne, John, House?

The period of significance for Bowne, John, House is recorded as the industrial era.

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