I believe this house was built for Lorenzo Dow Poston Jr., who was born in 1841. His father, Lorenzo Dow Poston Sr., was a self-made man and a model citizen of strict integrity. He moved from Virginia to Ohio in 1830, and settled in Nelsonville, where he operated a store for many years.

In 1852, Poston Sr. founded the L.D. Poston Mining Company. His mining operations made him one of the wealthiest men in the area. He was the first in the area to achieve prosperity through the sale of coal. In 1868, Lorenzo ran for State Senate, but lost even though he received much of the Democratic vote. In 1873, he decided to retire and sale his company to his sons. Mr. Poston passed away in 1875, after 2 short years into retirement. His sons continued the family business and enlarged it over of the years. By 1883, they had mined about 100,000 tons of coal. The company was eventually sold to the J.P. Morgan Syndicate. In 1905, Clinton L. Poston went on to help organize the Sunday Creek Coal Company. That company was the second largest coal company in the United States at the time.