T. E. Churchill, a Waterloo tax assessor and successful grain elevator operator, built this attractive Victorian-style house around 1867. His elevator stood on land leased from the Illinois Central Railroad, near the machine shops.

Several prominent Waterloo families lived in the house after the Churchills. One was Thomas Cascaden Jr., head of Cascaden Manufacturing Company, a maker of feed mills, lard kettles, hay rakes and other farm implements. Cascaden designed and patented many of his firm's products.

Another owner of the house was Paul Davis, owner of David Dry Goods Company, located on the present site of the Waterloo Holiday Inn.

The house was sold to relatives of its present occupants in 1937.