General George Washington and his army stayed in the Pompton area twice during the course of the war, and he visited the Yellow Tavern both times.Mayers, Robert A. Hub of the Revolution: Pompton and the Preakness Valley, Garden State Legacy. Accessed October 10, 2017. He first visited on July 11, 1777, when he met with local ironmaster Robert Erskine at the tavern. François-Jean de Chastellux, a major general in the French Expeditionary Force led by General Rochambeau, visited the Yellow Tavern on his way from Philadelphia to New England in December 1780, and remarked on his experience there in an account published later. Washington returned to the tavern on March 30, 1782, as he traveled north with his wife Martha. During this time, it was serving as the winter headquarters of Colonel Phillip Van Cortlandt. The tavern was torn down around 1900 to widen the adjacent road, and the site is noted by a historical marker.
