The two-story masonry building was built for John H. Murphy, a Virginia cotton and slavery merchant who owned a large warehouse at 122 Commerce Street, Montgomery, where slave traders in the 1850s confined slaves until they could be sold at auctions.

In 1854 the Montgomery Water Works Company was chartered, with Murphy serving as director.

Documented visitors during this period include Jefferson Davis and William Lowndes Yancey.

The house became the headquarters of the Union Provost Marshal during the military occupation of Montgomery in 1865.

In 1970 the Montgomery Water Works and Sanitary Sewer Board purchased and restored the house to serve as their offices.