The cornerstone of Marble Collegiate Church was laid in November 1851, and the church dedicated on October 11, 1854.  Designed by architect Samuel A. Warner, the church is named for its construction out of solid blocks of marble, shipped down river from a quarry at Hastings-on-Hudson. As the city limit was then at 23rd Street, and Fifth Avenue a dirt road, the surrounding cast iron fence was erected to keep cattle out of the churchyard. The bell in the tower has tolled at the death of every president since Martin Van Buren in 1862. The spire is 215 feet from the ground and is topped by the original Dutch-style weather vane, six feet six inches high, a reminder of the cock that crowed after Peter denied knowing Christ. The present clock with its four dials was installed in the belfry in 1957. It replaced the original Seth Thomas clock that had to be wound by hand every eight days.   Inside the iron fence stands a life-sized bronze statue of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale by the artist John M. Soderberg, a gift of the Peale family to the church in May 1998. Also within the fence is "The Flight Into Egypt," a bronze statue of Mary and Joseph with the Child Jesus and a gift in 1966 of sculptress Anna Hyatt Huntington.     Marble Collegiate Church was designated a landmark building in 1967 by the Landmarks Preservation Commission of New York City and described as "a distinguished example of early Romanesque revival church architecture with an impressive tower and spire." An 18-month project repairing, restoring and washing away soot from the church's marble exterior that had accumulated over 146 years was completed in October 2000 under the direction of Church Master Dwight D. Rangeler.