The house is named for the first three families who lived in the house, William and Mary Ann McEwen, David and Samuel Samuels and James and Mary Marr.

William McEwen bought the land from the owners of the Liberty School and Meeting House for $150 in 1864. He built a simple brick house of two rooms downstairs and two rooms upstairs. McEwen was president of the Kentucky Stock Bank, which he later bought out his partners and reorganized under McEwen & Sons. The year 1870 saw him overextended by borrowing for other investments. He went bankrupt in the Panic of that year. The City of Columbus lost $17,000.00 and Bartholomew County lost $27,00.00, of which only a small portion was recovered. It was two years before his affairs were settled, and in 1872 David and Samuel Samuels bought the property from McEwen.

The Samuels, father and son, had done well financially in the woolen and mercantile businesses and went about remodeling the house to the present Italianate style, so popular in the 1870's. Additions were three parlors, the entry hail and stair on the first floor and a master bedroom with sewing room and two bedrooms on the second floor.

There are noticeable differences in the height of the ceilings on the interior and roof lines as well as the masonry and stone window sills and lintels on the exterior. The 1864 house has lower ceilings and Flemish bond masonry (one long and one end brick) and the 1874 house has running bond (all bricks laid lengthwise). The cast iron fence dates from 1874.

Samuels moved to Missouri in 1889 and sold the house to James Marr, retiring from his farm north east of town. Although Mrs. Marr died a few years after moving, Mr. Marr stayed on in the house. His meticulous account books have provided a tremendous amount of information about his daily life.

Mr. Marr did not have a horse and buggy but he did buy a Model "P Ford. He hired a driver for $.50 whenever he needed him, but the upkeep on the car was more than he liked to spend and sold the car. Mr. Marr died in 1915. His son William bought the house from other heirs and kept it until 1921.

After a succession of owners it was turned into a rooming house with partitioned walls and a concrete block addition on the rear. According to one informant it was "like a rabbit warren inside". Thirty-five feet across the north end of the lot had also been sold to a beverage company.

The house had been vacant for several years before the historical society acquired it. The house and north thirty-five feet had to be purchased from two different owners, but it was accomplished. Changes from the original house were to enclose the back stair and enlarge two bedrooms to make one large gallery on the interior. The wood house has garage doors that were added sometime after 1915, other wise the exterior is essentially the same. The McEwen-Samuels-Marr House is on the National Register of Historic Places.