The Nelson House, sharing some architectural similarities, was completed the next year and may have had the same architect: D. S. Shureman.

Judge William Brown was a successful lawyer and politician in the city who died during construction.

Until the completion of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, the William Brown Building also hosted the local offices of the Grand Army of the Republic.

For its role as a significant local example of Romanesque architecture, the National Park Service recognized the William Brown Building with a listing on the National Register of Historic Places on August 10, 2000.

When the West Downtown Rockford Historic District was created in 2007, the Brown building was listed as a contributing property.