05/19/2026
Allendale’s Oldest Church Marks 150 Years
Chapel of the Epiphany — the “Chapel in the Willows” — celebrates 150 years of continuous service to Allendale on June 11, 2026
ALLENDALE, NJ — One hundred and fifty years ago next month, on Sunday, June 11, 1876, a small congregation gathered for the first service in a newly built wood-frame Gothic chapel at the corner of Franklin Turnpike and Cottage Place. That building — known affectionately ever since as the “Chapel in the Willows” — still stands today as the sanctuary of the Highlands Presbyterian Church at 270 Franklin Turnpike, making it the oldest surviving church in the Borough of Allendale.
The chapel’s origins trace to January 7, 1872, when Emma Berdell Cable opened a Sunday school in the parlor of her home at 475 Franklin Turnpike. Within a year the school had outgrown the parlor and moved into a converted barn on Cottage Place, which the teachers named “Hope Chapel.” In 1874 Mrs. Cable donated land for a permanent church. The 20-by-30-foot chapel, designed by New York architect F. C. Merry and built by Halsted Builders of Ramsey, was completed at a cost of about $2,000. Bishop Odenheimer laid the cornerstone, and the Rev. Legh R. Dickinson of Christ Church, Ridgewood, presided at the opening service on June 11, 1876.
The chapel was relocated in 1895 from its original Cottage Place site to its present corner of Franklin Turnpike and East Orchard Street — one of the first acts of the newly incorporated Borough of Allendale. In 1902–1907, under the direction of local architect William Dewsnap, a Shingle Style Parish House was added, the chapel was rotated to face East Orchard Street, re-clad in cedar shingles to match, and connected to the Parish House by a covered cloister.
After serving the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Epiphany for 89 years, the property was acquired in 1965 by the Trustees of the Presbytery of the Palisades, and the Highlands Presbyterian Church was organized as a new congregation on October 30, 1966. Continuous worship in the building — across two denominations — now spans fifteen decades.
“For a century and a half, this chapel has been a quiet, steady presence at the heart of Allendale,” said Debbie Murphy, Clerk of Session at Highlands Presbyterian Church. “Generations of our neighbors have been married here, mourned loved ones here, and worshipped here. Reaching 150 years of continuous service to this community is a milestone worth celebrating with everyone in town.”
Across 150 years the chapel has hosted weddings, baptisms, funerals, and Sunday worship for generations of Allendale families. Eleven memorial stained-glass windows installed between 1876 and 1947 record the names of teachers, donors, neighbors, and the borough’s sons lost in two World Wars. The 1947 “Sir Galahad” window honoring Charles A. Yeomans — killed off Okinawa in 1945 — was executed by Paterson glass artist George L. Payne and remains one of the chapel’s most striking features.
Highlands Presbyterian Church will mark the sesquicentennial with its Sunday worship service at 10:00 a.m. on June 14, 2026, the closest Sunday to the original June 11, 1876 opening. The public is welcome to attend and to tour the chapel afterward.
— # # # —
MEDIA CONTACTS
Debbie Murphy, Clerk of Session, Highlands Presbyterian Church • 270 Franklin Turnpike, Allendale, NJ 07401 • (201) 327-4466 • [email protected]
Fred Litt, Allendale community historian • [email protected]
