The Ramapo River was improved for slack-water navigation, and a bridge was erected near this point by the Morris Canal and Banking Company in 1836 under an agreement with General William Colfax, who, as major, had commanded General Washington's Guard in the Revolutionary War. He then owned this land, which had been taken up in 1695 by Arent Schuyler, founder of Pompton, a man respected by the Indians and a valiant captain in the colonial wars.