Morris Sharp was born at Aberdeen, Ohio on 30 August 1838 and with his family he moved to Jamestown in 1851 before settling in Washington Court House.

[2]: 368  A member of the local Methodist church, Sharp was a leading advocate of the prohibitionist cause; he was once the Prohibition Party's candidate for Governor of Ohio.

[6] With its tower, the house is one of the city's tallest buildings; the only ones that surpass it are the courthouse and St. Colman's Catholic Church.

[7] The house gained further recognition in 1974, when it and an outbuilding were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places for their architectural significance.

One of more than a dozen National Register properties in and around Washington Court House, it was one of the first to join the list; only the Fayette County Courthouse achieved this distinction sooner.