Closter, in Dates.

A borough in ten dates

Closter, in Dates follows one Bergen County borough from colonial farmland to the present: a 1710 land purchase, a stone house, stones dividing the 1710 tract, a new township, the railroad, a marble yard, incorporation as a borough, a borough hall, a steel house and a nature preserve. Each date below gives the line as it is spoken in the film, followed by a short note drawn from the sources listed at the end of this page.

The scenes are an AI historical dramatization: generated imagery that suggests each period, not archival photographs or footage. The narrator’s voice is AI-generated. The dates, names and notes below come from the published records listed under Sources.

The ten dates

0:00 · Opening card. Closter, in Dates · Bergen County · Northern Valley · Borough since 1904. “From farms in the King’s Woods to a village around the railroad.” The card carries the label AI historical dramatization.

1. 0:06 · 1710

   A Woodland Beginning

   “In the King’s Woods, the Nagel brothers bought land, and Barent built in stone.”

   On April 25, 1710, the brothers Barent and Resolvert Nagel bought the northern 1,031 acres of Lancaster Symes’s tract in the King’s Woods. Barent built a stone house near the main road; it later burned. (National Register nomination, John Nagle House; Closter Historic Preservation Commission)

2. 0:14 · c. 1740 / 1748

   The House and the Stones

   “Behind that house, a sandstone saltbox rose; later, carved stones divided the land.”

   The John Nagle House, built about 1740 in the fields behind Barent’s house, is sandstone rubble with a rear catslide roof, which its survey calls “a rare surviving example of a stone saltbox form.” The tract was divided in 1748; stones carved “BN” and “RN” remain in the Naugle/Auryansen Cemetery. (National Register nomination; Closter Historic Preservation Commission)

3. 0:22 · 1775

   A Township Takes Shape

   “As revolution stirred, Closter’s farms became part of the new Harrington Township.”

   Harrington Township was formed by royal charter on June 22, 1775, from Hackensack and New Barbadoes townships, and took in the land between the Hudson and Hackensack rivers north to the state line, present-day Closter included. (Snyder; Clayton and Nelson, 1882)

4. 0:29 · 1859

   The Railroad Arrives

   “Then the Northern Railroad’s first trains arrived, and a village grew around the depot.”

   The Northern Railroad of New Jersey, chartered in 1854, made its formal opening run from Piermont on May 26, 1859. Closter was among its first stations, and a village first called Closter City grew up around the depot. (Closter Historic Preservation Commission; The Book of Englewood; Northern Valley Press; Library of Congress)

5. 0:35 · 1899

   A Tradition in Marble

   “Beside the tracks, sculptor J. Massey Rhind opened a marble yard; other carvers followed.”

   In 1899 J. Massey Rhind set up a studio and marble-carving yard on Demarest Avenue beside the tracks, the first of a series of sculptors who worked in Closter; Robert Alexander Baillie later opened his own yard on the same street. (Closter Historic Preservation Commission)

6. 0:42 · 1904

   Closter Becomes a Borough

   “On New Year’s Day, 1904, Closter left Harrington Township to become a borough.”

   The act incorporating the Borough of Closter from part of Harrington Township, Chapter 161 of the Laws of 1903, was approved on April 8, 1903, and took effect on January 1, 1904. (Bergen County Clerk; Snyder)

7. 0:50 · 1938

   A Hall for the Borough

   “With Works Progress Administration labor, Closter built a Moderne borough hall.”

   Borough Hall on Closter Dock Road was built in 1938 by Works Progress Administration laborers to a design by the architect Carl G. Mettberg; its cornerstone was laid on March 12, 1938. It became a borough historic landmark in 2014. (The Living New Deal; Closter Historic Preservation Commission)

8. 0:56 · 1950

   A House of Steel

   “After World War II, a Lustron house of porcelain-enameled steel rose on Durie Avenue.”

   In 1950 Harold Hess bought a Lustron “Westchester Deluxe,” a prefabricated house built entirely of porcelain-enameled steel. Listed on the National Register in 2000, it was acquired by the borough in 2015 and opened as a house museum. (National Register registration form; Closter Historic Preservation Commission; Northern Valley Press)

9. 1:03 · 1962

   Room for Nature

   “Amid rapid development, the borough leased eighty acres to a new nature center.”

   Concerned about rapid development, the Borough formed a committee in 1961 to study a nature center. In 1962 the Closter Nature Center was incorporated and leased 80 acres from the Borough; later additions brought it to 136 acres. (Closter Nature Center)

10. 1:09 · Today

    Closter, New Jersey

    “Today, stone houses and woodland trails keep Closter’s long story in view.”

    Several of Closter’s eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century sandstone houses, most of them private residences, are on the National Register of Historic Places. The Closter Nature Center’s 136 acres are open every day from dawn to dusk, free of charge. (National Park Service; Closter Nature Center)

1:15 · Closing card. B&Co. Realty · Curating Your Beautiful Life. · beyderco.com · 201-380-2010 · Beyder and Company Realty LLC, Licensed Real Estate Broker · Equal Housing Opportunity.

Sources

• National Park Service, National Register nomination: John Nagle (Naugle) House, Bergen County Stone House Survey
• National Park Service, National Register nomination: William De Clark House
• National Park Service, National Register record: Isaac Naugle House
• Closter Historic Preservation Commission, Closter History
• Closter Historic Preservation Commission, The Naugle/Auryansen Cemetery
• John P. Snyder, The Story of New Jersey’s Civil Boundaries, 1606–1968 (New Jersey Geological Survey, 1969), via Internet Archive
• W. Woodford Clayton and William Nelson, History of Bergen and Passaic Counties, New Jersey (1882), Library of Congress digitized text
• Adaline W. Sterling, The Book of Englewood (1922), via Internet Archive
• Northern Valley Press, This Week in Local History: A New Era for the Northern Valley (May 24, 2019)
• Library of Congress, Map of the Northern Rail Road of New Jersey (1859)
• Borough of Closter Historic Preservation Commission, Historic Preservation Plan Element (February 2011)
• Closter Historic Preservation Commission, A History of Closter’s Sculptors
• Bergen County Clerk, Historic Documents: Closter (Chapter 161, Laws of 1903)
• The Living New Deal, Borough Hall – Closter NJ
• Closter Historic Preservation Commission, Closter Borough Hall landmark nomination report (January 2014)
• Closter Historic Preservation Commission, Closter Historic Sites
• National Park Service, National Register registration form: Harold Hess Lustron House (2000)
• Closter Historic Preservation Commission, The Lustron House
• Northern Valley Press, A Mid-Century Throwback: Lustron House Will Open to the Public (December 7, 2018)
• Closter Nature Center, Our Mission & History
• Closter Nature Center, home page

Sources read October 18, 2026. The film’s scenes are dramatized; the dates and notes on this page follow the records above. This page describes local history, not a current property offering. Corrections are welcome through B&Co. Realty.

About this film

Closter, in Dates was made by B&Co. Realty in October 2026. Its ten events were chosen from a longer list and checked against published records before the film was finished. It gives no founding date for Closter: 1710 marks the documented Nagel purchase, not a settlement date. The scenes were generated with AI image and video tools and checked for period detail; they are illustrations of each period, not likenesses of real people or exact records of particular buildings, and where a scene and a record differ, the record is the authority. Narration: an AI-generated voice. Music: Apple Loops, Apple’s royalty-free loop library. The closing card is the B&Co. Realty brand card.

Closter, NJ town guide · Alpine, in Dates · Watch on YouTube · Discuss a Closter property