According to the Morgan County Landmarks Society, this humble vernacular home is thought to have originated, circa 1830, as the office of a tannery. It was purchased in 1851 by watchmaker and silversmith Charles William Richter, Sr., (1807-1884) and eventually expanded to its present appearance, a double-pen central hallway form with an incorporated rear shed room. He and his wife, Ann Eliza Potts (1808-1863), both natives of the West Indian island of St. Croix, raised eight children in the house. After Ann’s death in 1863, Charles moved in with his son Martin Luther Richter (1847-1924), a prosperous jeweler and photographer who owned the residence on South Main Street now known as the Dovecote House. Arthur Potter Richter and his family, along with his brother John (1848-1907), lived in the Richter Cottage until at least 1870. Numerous owners and tenants followed before the property was slated for demolition in the 1960s. In 1976, Dr. Josephine Hart Brandon and Carroll Hart, sisters with deep roots in historic Madison, led an effort to restore the Richter Cottage. It was restored in the 1990s as a representative example of 19th century tradesman housing, and is now owned by the Morgan County Landmarks Society.