The fieldstone tower was built in 1888 by Frederick Smyth, and is the only surviving architectural structure related to his life.

Smyth served as Governor of New Hampshire in 1865-67, and was an active promoter of veterans' issues in the post-Civil War period.

It has a basement level 8 feet (2.4 m) high, and three floors topped by a crenellated parapet.

Smyth built it as a replica of a tower he saw while visiting Scotland, and located on land that was among the earliest of his purchases in Manchester.

Smyth's country house "The Willows", built near the Amoskeag Falls, no longer stands.