For nearly 100 years, the remains of some two dozen members of the Bleecker family were interred in a vault below Trinity Church Wall Street in Lower Manhattan.
Courtesy Andrew Parke
The Bleecker burials largely stopped after 1884; a relative's inquiry led to the discovery in 2014 that workers fixing a wall and upgrading the ventilating system had apparently desecrated the vault more than a decade earlier.
Courtesy Andrew Parke
After two years of negotiations and a considerable investment by the church, Trinity put things right, hosting a service in October 2016 to rededicate the vault.
Courtesy Andrew Parke
The vault is reached down a narrow flight of steps, through a corridor replete with old pipes at head height, then by scrambling through a hole in a thick foundation wall built in 1846.
Courtesy Andrew Parke
The vault now has a new door and rebuilt entrance. The church also put a new name sign on the Bleecker vault along with three others that remain accessible.
Courtesy Andrew Parke
The vault has new shelves for ashes and coffin plates, and a gravel floor under which the remains of the Bleeckers now rest.
Courtesy Andrew Parke
The vault was purchased in 1790 by Anthony Lispenard Bleecker, who had a farm where Bleecker Street is today.
Courtesy Andrew Parke
The rededication service took place in the church's main sanctuary as well as in the vault. Dozens of family members gathered for the service, while relatives who couldn't make it watched online.
Courtesy Andrew Parke
"The Bleecker family is a significant part of Manhattan's history," said the Rev. William Lupfer, rector of Trinity Church Wall Street. "Twenty-six Bleecker ancestors rest in the Colonial-era vault."
