The building was commissioned by the Grand United Order of True Reformers in 1902, and was dedicated on July 15, 1903.

The Grand United Order of True Reformers started in 1873 as an African American fraternal association and temperance organization; and was re-organized in c. 1875 into the Grand Fountain of the United Order of True Reformers in Richmond, Virginia, as a business venture founded by William Washington Browne, before their dissolution in 1934.

Holmes was president of the group in 1911 as retrenchment was sought and board membership included Adolphus Humbles of Lynchburg, Virginia.

[13] Other tenants have included: Washington Conservancy, the DC Chapter of the National Negro Business League, the First Separate Battalion.

[14] G. Byron Peck's mural to Duke Ellington on the side of the building used to overlook the U Street Metro station.