[2] The house was built in 1830 in the Federal style by J. W. Mauldin, a local politician.

He and his wife, Jane, had a two-story portico added to the front of the house in 1847 to reflect the Greek Revival style.

Despite its proximity to the Confederate lines and to the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers, the house survived the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863.

He had regained possession of his plantations at Davis Bend after the war, but the peninsula was cut off from the mainland in 1867 when the Mississippi changed its course, and agriculture became unprofitable because of transportation costs.

[4][5] Jefferson Davis made one of his last public addresses to the people of Vicksburg in 1869 from the front balcony of the house.