This article was excerpted from Images of America: Allendale
As Allendale began to organize as a borough form of government, it had no permanent municipal building for meetings, elections, or community gatherings. It had no offices for employees to work or for records to be stored in. And so, it used whatever space it could find within the borough. This often included local homes and, when gathering were large, Archer Memorial Church. Allendale’s election to incorporate as a borough took place in Archer Memorial Church on November 8, 1894. Without dedicated facilities, borough records kept moving from place to place. Damp basements became popular locations for storing essential borough documents. Early Allendale tax collectors received and held real estate tax payments at their homes. Allendale’s first borough election was held on December 4, 1894, electing Peter D. Rapelje as mayor along with six council members, George Hatch, Cornelius Quackenbush, Horace O. Doty, Walter Dewsnap, Charles L. Parigot, and Edward E. Burtis. The first meeting of the mayor and council was held in Councilman Dewsnap’s parlor on December 18, 1894. In need of meeting space, the mayor called upon Councilmen Doty and Hatch to ask the president of the school board, J.B. Willard, if they could hold future meetings at the schoolhouse on Franklin Turnpike. And so, the governing of the borough of Allendale was off and running. The following meeting, on December 27, 1894, was held at the schoolhouse, which was built in 1862 on property provided by Peter G. Powell. Occasionally, Melchionna’s Hall at the corner of Park and West Allendale Avenues served as a community meeting place. The next schoolhouse, built in 1896 on Franklin Turnpike, then served the community for many years. Given its larger accommodations, which were dedicated in 1913, the new firehouse at Erie Plaza became the next long-standing meeting place. Borough leaders were continually searching for property that could serve as a municipal complex that would include a borough hall, police headquarters, and public library. Throughout Allendale’s history, several sites have been considered and rejected, including the Berdan Property (where ACME now stands) and Crestwood Lake. After Brookside School was built in 1929, the former schoolhouse on Franklin Turnpike suffered from neglect. In the 1940s, the building was leased to American Legion Post No. 204, which later purchased the property for $1. In 1947, the schoolhouse was renamed the War Memorial Building. The American Legion spent $15,000 making various changes to the structure. The second floor was removed to save on heating costs. The American Legion held its meetings there and leased the space to local civic groups. In early 1950, the mayor and council approved changing their meeting place from the firehouse to the War Memorial Building, citing its larger size. By 1960, the American Legion membership had dwindled to about 22, and the members were no longer able to maintain the building. As such, the ownership reverted to the board of education, which then deeded the building back to the borough. Effective September 1960, Mayor Newman and the borough council took control of the building, paying $1 for the property and agreeing to maintain the $700 monthly costs. On June 24, 1961, the borough dedicated its first permanent municipal building at 290 Franklin Turnpike. The building planned to house offices for the tax collector, police department, Board of Public Works, municipal court, violation bureau, Board of Health, Board of Assessment, and borough clerk. In addition, the Allendale Borough Council and other civic groups would be able to hold meetings there. Nonetheless, the need for space continued. In 1971, police headquarters moved to a rented residential home at 59 Cottage Place. The public library building, located at the corner of Franklin Turnpike and West Allendale Avenue since 1926, was in decline. In 1978, as the Church of the Epiphany could no longer afford to maintain its new church at 500 West Crescent Avenue, it sold the property and building to the borough, making the church the municipality’s new borough hall along with a new home for the Lee Memorial Library. That year, the police department moved into the previous municipal building at 290 Franklin Turnpike. In 2005, with 110 years of service to the community, the borough’s police headquarters, having served as the third schoolhouse and former municipal building, was razed. On the same site, a new state-of-the-art police headquarters was dedicated the following year. The mayoral term of office was originally two years, but by a vote of the council in 1970, it was expanded to four. Since the first Borough of Allendale election in 1894, here are Allendale’s mayors, their term in office, and party affiliation (when available): Peter D. Rapelje, December 4, 1894–February 25, 1897; George Cook, March 15, 1897–1900; Walter Dewsnap, 1901–1905; Charles S. Roswell, 1906–1909; Walter Dewsnap, 1910–1911; John W. Winter, 1912–1913; Gustave Nadler, 1914–1918; Orival O. Clark, 1919–1920; Albert L. Zabriskie, 1921–1924; William F. Kornhoff, 1925–1926; J. Parnell Thomas, 1927–1930; Malachi E. Higgins, 1931–1934; Kenneth V. Fisher (R), 1935–1938; Louis A. Keidel (D), 1939–1942; Lyman Ceely (I), 1943–1944; J. George Christopher (I), 1945–1946; Frederick J. Burnett (R), 1947–1950; Lester R. Johnson (R), 1951–1952; John L. Tucker (I), 1953–1956; Albert O. Scafuro (R), 1957–1958; George A. Dean (R), 1959; Robert I. Newman (R), 1959–1966; Joseph F. Waldorf (R), 1967–1968; Herbert Lange (R), 1969; Albert J. Merz Jr. (R), 1969–1972; Norman S. Lane (R), 1972; Robert Schenk (R), 1973–1974; Edward Fitzpatrick (R), 1975–1982; William Simpson (R), 1983–1987; Clarence Shaw (R), 1987–1990; Albert H. Klomburg (R), 1991–2006; Vince Barra (R), 2007–2014; Elizabeth White (R), 2015–2018; and Ari Bernstein (R), 2019–incumbent. On November 7, 1922, Martha Parkhurst was elected as Allendale’s first councilwoman, serving one term. Today, the borough is New Jersey’s most popular form of government. It provides for a mayor and a six-member council, elected separately at the November general election. The mayoral term is four years, while council members serve three-year staggered terms, with two council seats up for reelection every year. The council has all executive responsibilities not specifically assigned to the mayor. As such, the borough form of government is known as the “strong council, weak mayor” form. The mayor runs the council meetings and can only vote to break a tie.