ALPINE, N.J. —— Alpine gained some prominence in the late 19th century after a visit from the famous cartoonist Thomas Nast (pictured below).
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Nast, widely known for his editorial cartoons in Harper’s Weekly, can also be credited with assigning the symbol of the elephant to the Republican Party after representing the GOP that way in an 1874 cartoon.
Late in the century, while a guest at one of the clifftop mansions in Alpine, Nast had occasion to visit the Community Church on Closter Dock Road, shown above. Nast was so taken by the beauty of the church that he began using it as a background in his newspaper cartoons as well as the Christmas cards he designed.
People flocked to Alpine to see the church in person, and millions of Christmas cards with its likeness were mailed all over the world. From that point, the Community Church traditionally became known as “The Christmas Church.”
The church was designed by J. Cleaveland Cady (1837-1919), architect of the Metropolitan Opera House, and was dedicated in 1871. Built in a High Victorian Gothic Revival style, this church was the first to have been designed by Cady and is one of two examples of the famed architect’s work in Bergen County (the other being the Demarest Railroad Station).
A deeply religious man, Cady undertook the church’s design at no cost and even contributed nearly $400 to help pay for stained glass from the J&R Lamb Studios of Tenafly. Cady later built a summer house in Alpine, which was demolished during the creation of Palisades Interstate Park.