Bottle Hill Tavern

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Colonial citizens settled the Bottle Hill Historic District in the early 1700’s, and eventually became the Borough of Madison. Initial construction on The Bottle Hill Tavern began ca. 1812 on the site of an older inn of the same name.

In 1819, its owners, Matthias Burnet and Baxter Sayre, sold the Tavern to Colonel Stephen D. Hunting of the Morris County Militia. It long served as a stop for Paulus Hook, Newark, Springfield, Chatham, and Bottle Hill to Morristown.

In 1825, the Marquis de Lafayette visited the Tavern. Lafayette was a French military officer who served under George Washington in the Continental Army. He was wounded at the Battle of Brandywine. During the French Revolution, he served as a leader of the Garde Nationale.

In 1922, the First National Bank purchased the site for a new building. With this purchase, they intended to tear down the old tavern. A group of very civic-minded citizens founded the Madison Historical Society. They were committed to saving one of the most historic structures in Madison: the Bottle Hill Tavern that stood on the corner of Main St. and Waverly Place where the Chase Bank now stands.

Led by Mrs. Calvin Anderson, Mrs. Anderson Case, Mrs. Fitshugh C. Speer, Lloyd W. Smith and Arthur W. Buttenheim, a successful fundraising effort was completed. This fundraiser was to pay for the cost of moving the Tavern to a location further down Main Street. After the move took place in 1923, it became the home for the Historical Society until the late 1940s when the Society moved to the Madison Public Library that now houses the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts.

Bottle Hill Tavern Now

Over the years, the Bottle Hill Tavern’s location has varied and has been known as the Waverly House, the Madison House, and the Bottle Hill Tavern. Over the past 25 years, The Mullins family ran “Poor Herbies” from 1992 until 2017 until its closure and purchase last December when four long-time Madison residents purchased the establishment and renamed it the Bottle Hill Tavern, celebrating the great history of Madison, NJ.

The new owners and their families (Horn, Haralampoudis, Flemming, and Horsey) are committed to honoring the success of the Mullins Family for the past 25 years. They are committed to preserving the great history of the tavern as well. They do this through the celebration of great food and drinks, great experiences and most of all ... great neighbors!