The Ford Cottage was built in the early 18th century by Gabriel Ford Jr., grandson of Col. Jacob Ford Sr., an ironmaster, tavern owner, and one of Morristown’s wealthiest citizens. Jacob Ford Jr. built the mansion used by Washington as his headquarters during the winter of 1779-1780, and that Ford Mansion is now the centerpiece of Morristown National Historical Park. Gabriel Ford Jr. served in the army and was stationed in Morristown during the winter encampment, then after the war built a small framed farmhouse just south of the family mansion. He later became an important citizen, serving as a judge and as one of the original incorporators of the Morris Aqueduct, Morristown’s first public water supply. The cottage originally stood on the southern slope of the hill below the Ford Mansion in Morristown, and as a fine example of early 1800s vernacular architecture it retains its original configuration with small paned windows and untapered clapboard siding. Like the Ford Mansion, the house survived substantially unaltered until it was moved to the grounds of Historic Speedwell in 1969, after construction of Interstate 287 threatened it with demolition and local residents purchased it for $25 from the New Jersey Department of Transportation, had it moved in two pieces, and reassembled it there.