In May 1876, a group of Englewood residents purchased six acres of land to establish a cemetery. The property, on the east side of Engle Steet near the Tenafly border, was named for the brook running along its eastern boundary. Charming as the site was, there was no building for memorial services.

A chapel of pink sandstone native to the area had been built on East Palisades Avenue and dedicated in March 1860. It was the first Presbyterian Church in Englewood and the first in Bergen County, with a seating capacity of 200.

The congregation grew and a new, larger church to accommodate 800 people was built in 1880. In 1887, the chapel was donated to Brookside Cemetery, and moved - stone by stone - to its present site near the entrance gate to the east side of the cemetery.