[2] It was built circa 1851 by Lucian B. Turney, a carpenter who also served on the Lawrenceville Borough Council during the 1850s.

It was also the residence of Turney's daughter Margaret, who at age 17 was one of 78 workers killed in the 1862 Allegheny Arsenal Explosion, the deadliest civilian disaster during the U.S. Civil War.

In 1996, the house was purchased by architectural historian Carol Peterson, who restored it to a period-appropriate appearance.

Eleven years later, Turney and his home became linked historically with the deadliest civilian disaster of the American Civil War when his 17-year-old daughter, Margaret A. Turney, was listed in multiple newspapers as one of 78 workers who had been killed when a series of explosions destroyed the laboratory at the Allegheny Arsenal on September 26.

[3] The house is a small, two-story frame building with a front-gabled slate roof, clapboard siding, and modest Greek Revival style wooden trim.