This article was excerpted from Images of America: Allendale.
On January 7, 1872, Mrs. Stephen (Emma) Cable and her daughter Mrs. James (Mary Emma) Reading organized the first area Sunday school in Mrs. Cable’s parlor at 475 Franklin Turnpike. This Episcopal mission became the Church of the Epiphany, Allendale’s oldest parish. Five churches now serve Allendale: Trinity Episcopal, Archer United Methodist, Guardian Angel, Calvary Lutheran, and Highlands Presbyterian. Given the popularity of Mrs. Cable’s Sunday school, a chapel was fitted up across the street in John J. Zabriskie’s barn on Chapel Street, now Cottage Place. Rev. L.R. Dickinson conducted the first service. Given the need for a more suitable place, a building of Gothic design was constructed, and on June 25, 1876, the Chapel in the Willows was formally opened. In 1894, the building was moved to the corner of Franklin Turnpike and East Orchard Street. A parish was added and later joined to the church via a cloister. In 1956, Rev. Johann Schenk came to Allendale, and the Church of the Epiphany became a full-fledged parish in 1958. With church seating totaling 110 and with Sunday morning attendance topping 200, on April 1, 1959, the church congregation voted to purchase the 10-acre Pilkington property, which bordered West Crescent and Brookside Avenues, Wehner Place, and George Street. The purchase also included an adjoining home on Brookside Avenue. The transaction was completed in May. Architects were hired to develop plans for a new church alongside West Crescent Avenue, and by 1962, the church began a building crusade to raise $271,000 for the construction of a new church and educational building. On July 1, 1964, the Reverend Kenneth A. Polglase became the new rector. The church building on Franklin Turnpike was then put up for sale. The new church was dedicated on May 15, 1965. After building a new rectory on George Street, the congregation’s membership dwindled, resulting in financial difficulties. In 1979, the Epiphany sold its large brick building to the Borough of Allendale and constructed a smaller church at 55 George Street. The official consecration of the church and its furnishings was held on September 30, 1979. In 2010, the Trinity Episcopal Church was formed by the unification of Allendale’s Church of the Epiphany with Midland Park’s Church of the Good Shepherd. Fr. Michael Allen became the first rector, retiring in 2020. Allendale’s Archer Memorial Church was founded by O.H.P. and Mary Archer. In 1868, the Archers, regular summer residents, moved to Allendale. Because of the lengthy Sunday church trip to Hohokus, the Archers presented a new church to Allendale. On February 17, 1876, the chapel was opened for Sunday school. On June 11, 1876, the cornerstone of the Archer Methodist Episcopal Church was laid. The following Sunday, June 18, Bishop E.S. Janes officiated the dedication. A preacher who rode a circuit serving other churches was assigned to hold services regularly in Allendale. The first full-time pastor in Allendale was Rev. William Potts George, who was assigned to the church in 1886. On November 5, 1893, an enlarged and beautified Archer Memorial Church, now including a 30-foot-by-70-foot public hall, was rededicated. The cost was $18,000, and that was donated by O.H.P. Archer, who died in 1899 at age 78. In 1901, the parsonage, the hall, and two acres of land were presented to the church by Mrs. Archer. In 1968, when the Methodist churches and the Evangelical United Brethren churches merged, the name was changed to Archer Memorial Church. Considered unsafe, the church was demolished in June 1973. On September 8, 1974, the cornerstone for the new building was dedicated. Consecration was on October 20, 1974. The Catholic church in Allendale began in 1903. The first masses were said in Linkroum’s Confectionery Store (now Allendale Liquor). Rev. P.T. Carew, pastor of Mount Carmel Church, Ridgewood, served the Catholic families in Allendale. Then, until 1913, services were held in the second-story recreation room in the Appert family’s garage on Cottage Place. In December 1913, the former home of B.F. Hutches at 46 Maple Street was purchased, and simple alterations were made to convert the first floor into a chapel. The Catholic church was established in this house on December 25, 1913, and served its community until October 9, 1954. Formerly the Mission Chapel of St. Luke’s Roman Catholic Church in Hohokus, the Guardian Angel Chapel was made a separate parish in January 1953. That year, the Archdiocese of Newark purchased 14 acres, including the existing buildings, of Twin Gates, the estate then owned by the Vincent Vesce family. It was located near the corner of Franklin Turnpike and East Allendale Avenue. Alterations were made, and the property opened in July 1954. Guardian Angel Church was dedicated on Saturday, October 9, 1954. The church proper and rectory occupied the main house. On November 26, 1966, the new 600-seat Guardian Angel Church building, and parish hall were dedicated by the Most Reverend Thomas Boland, archbishop of Newark. In the fall of 1954, a group of Lutheran families met together to discuss the possibility of starting a congregation in Allendale. The Allendale Borough Council was approached, and it gave permission for the use of the Allendale firehouse as a meeting space. The first service was held on December 5, 1954, with 61 people in attendance and the Reverend C.O. Pedersen as the speaker. In 1955, about five acres of property on West Crescent Avenue and Ivers Place was purchased, and in December 1956, ground was broken for a new church building. On January 13, 1957, the cornerstone of the Calvary Lutheran Church was laid, and on June 16, 1957, the church was dedicated. It consisted of an auditorium seating 200, a pastor’s study, a secretary’s office, a kitchen, and a fellowship room. On November 8, 1959, the Lutheran church broke ground for a five-classroom Sunday school addition and a two-story, eight-room parsonage. The Sunday school and the parsonage cost $25,000 and $23,000, respectively. The new Sunday school was dedicated on May 8, 1960. In January 1965, Allendale members of the First Presbyterian Church of Ramsey announced plans to create a satellite church, Highlands Presbyterian, buying the Church of the Epiphany’s property on Franklin Turnpike and East Orchard Street for $60,000. On June 4, 1965, title to the property of the Epiphany Episcopal Church was transferred to the trustees of the Presbytery of the Palisades. On April 1, 1965, Thomas S. Ward became the first Presbyterian minister for the Allendale church. On September 12, 1965, a total of 194 persons attended the first worship service.
