St. Peter's Church, Chapel and Cemetery Complex is a historic Episcopal Gothic Revival church at 2500 Westchester Avenue and Saint Peters Avenue in

Westchester Square Westchester Square is a residential neighborhood geographically located in the eastern section of the New York City borough of the Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: East Tremont Avenue and Silver Street, Blo ...

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It was built in 1853 to designs by the architect

Leopold Eidlitz Leopold Eidlitz (March 10, 1823, in Prague, Bohemia – March 22, 1908, in New York City) was an American architect based in New York. He is best known for his work on the New York State Capitol (Albany, New York, 1876–1881), as well as " Ira ...

in the Village of Westchester, now the

East Bronx The East Bronx is the part of the New York City borough of the Bronx which lies east of the Bronx River; this roughly corresponds to the eastern half of the borough. Neighborhoods include: Baychester, Castle Hill, City Island, Co-op City ...

. The church was damaged heavily by fire and reconstructed and changed by Cyrus L. W. Eidlitz in 1878. It is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style, cruciform plan, church constructed of rock faced

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

. It features a square corner tower with buttressed corners and an octagonal

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

. ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying photographs''
/ref> It was designated a

New York City Landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and c ...

in 1976. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1983. Burials in the graveyard predated the church and include members of the Dutch settlement Oostdorp, or East Towne, and called Westchester by the English settlers in New Netherlands. In 2013, the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance relocated from the

American Bank Note Company Building The American Bank Note Company Building is a five-story building at 70 Broad Street in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. The building was designed by architects Kirby, Petit & Green in the neo-classical style, and contain ...

to the chapel on the grounds of St. Peter's Church. File:Buildingside.JPG, Side view File:Frontsign.JPG, Sign for St. Peter's File:St. Peter's Church, Chapel and Cemetery Complex IMG 1921 HLG.png, St. Peter's Church File:St. Peter's Church, Chapel and Cemetery Complex and BAAD IMG 1923 HLG.png, St. Peter's Chapel

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's Church, Chapel and Cemetery Complex Churches completed in 1853 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Episcopal church buildings in the Bronx Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in the Bronx Gothic Revival church buildings in New York City Leopold Eidlitz church buildings Westchester Square, Bronx Cemeteries in the Bronx Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City New York City Designated Landmarks in the Bronx