The company was granted the U.S. Mail delivery contract between Iowa City and Muscatine in 1839 and began service in 1841.

The basic design of the structure was a copy of Smith's previous home on Long Island, New York.

The siding, windows, doors and interior millwork were constructed in Cincinnati and shipped by steamboat to Iowa.

[2] At one time it had an octagonal glass cupola on the roof where they hung a lantern at night so the stagecoach drivers could find the inn.

This article about a property in Muscatine County, Iowa on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub.