The Bowne House in Flushing a 1661 structure designated a New York City landmark, is believed to be the best-preserved example of Anglo-Dutch architecture in America. Located on its original site at 37- 01 Bowne St., the saltbox-style structure has many of its original furnishings. It’s also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In a letter to Paul Loether, director of the National Historic Landmark Program at the National Register of Historic Places, Marshall stated, “The house embodies how a 17th Century early settler in the colony of New Amsterdam lived and serves today as a window into the past for young and old to appreciate and enjoy.”

John Bowne, known for his stand for religious freedom against Peter Stuyvesant, governor of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, in 1662 was arrested for allowing Quakers to worship in his home. His actions, along with a previously recorded formal protest, the Flushing Remonstrance of 1657, helped lead the way for religious freedom in the North American colonies and gave rise to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

“Today, more than ever, we need to keep in mind what has happened in the past, so that we build a better future,” Marshall stated to Loether.

The Bowne House has been a museum since 1947 and is operated by the Bowne House Historical Society under the aegis of the Historic House Trust of New York City.