YELLOW COTTAGE OR YELLOW TAVERN

The Yellow Cottage, or Yellow Tavern, stood on land now known as Federal Square. It is said that General and Mrs. Washington stayed there. He and his troops passed through Pompton Lakes often.

When Martin Ryerson married Frouche Van Winkle in 1778, they moved into the Yellow Cottage which stood in a grove of lombardy poplars where the Maine Monument now stands. This was a charming cottage. Standing as it did on the line that connected Morristown, West Point, the Iron Forges, etc., it was a convenient stopping place for travelers, both civilian and military. This was too much for the couple, and they returned to the Ryerson home near the Ponds to remain there for the duration of the war. They then returned to the Yellow Cottage. It was torn down in 1903 when the road was widened.

Mr. Ryerson bought the mines at Ringwood and also the furnace in Pompton, laying the cornerstone for what was to become the Pompton Steel Works.