[1][2] Allentown architects Jacoby, Weishampel & Biggin designed the building in a Beaux Arts style.

It remains the last commercial structure downtown built in Center City Allentown before 1920 that stands in its original condition.

One worker, Fred Mummey, died in the construction of the eight-story structure; he was knocked from a high steel beam on 4 February 1904, by the boom of a swinging derrick.

The building also had a "spacious dome 32 feet in height supported by 6 onyx columns surmounting the rotunda," according to a local newspaper at the time.

Operations were moved to a new building at the northeast corner of Seventh and Hamilton in 1959, which replaced the former Allen Hotel, and the structure was vacated.

[4] The renovation also included the adjacent former Trojan Powder Company building at 17 North 7th Street, which was built in 1912.