Thomas and Caroline McCarthy built the original rock building as a private home and placed a cornerstone dated 1852 when it was completed. The property was later leased to Percy Davis, who converted the home into a hotel by adding two stories. Davis hired one of George Coulter’s sons to manage it, and although it was first called the Coulter Hotel, it later became known as the Coulterville Hotel. The hotel burned in the great fire of 1899, leaving only the rock wall. Vernon C. Peppers purchased the property for the state on Aug. 15, 1962, and operated it as a commercial museum until shortly before selling it on July 18, 1976, for development as a nonprofit museum called the Northern Mariposa County History Center.