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The Taliaferro House is significant as one of the premier examples of an American Foursquare in Wyoming. The house was built in the period 1907-1912 by an Italian stonemason with sandstone quarried south of Rock Springs. The house is part of the small elite residential neighborhood of early 20th century Rock Springs that occupied an area south of the east/west railroad tracks which bisected the town. Its size and conspicuous location are symbols of the status and achievements of the first generation of influential businessmen/ranchers who rose to regional and statewide prominence in the Union Pacific railroad and coal town of Rock Springs. The house is an excellent example of a style of domestic architecture that evolved in post-Victorian America.

Augustine Kendall had the Taliaferro House built. He was president of the Sweetwater County Bank, Vice-President and Treasurer of the Rock Springs Lumber Company, and was involved in the Stock Growers Mercantile and sheep and cattle ranching in Sweetwater County. He also served as Mayor of Rock Springs 1904-1907, and was one of the original founders of the Rock Springs Grazing Association. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Seddon Taliaferro, Jr. purchased the home in 1914. After arriving in Wyoming in 1883, Mr. Taliaferro became Union Pacific agent for Green River, a job he held until he began his law practice in 1900 and moved to Rock Springs. In addition to a busy law practice, Taliaferro also organized and became president or managing director of three banks: the First National Bank of Green River, the First State Bank of Green River, and the First Bank of Superior, Wyoming. He was president of the Green River Mercantile Company, a profitable business that outfitted many of the numerous sheep and cattle ranches in the region including those he owned, the Green River Livestock Company and the Big Sandy Livestock Company. Taliaferro, along with Augustine Kendall, helped found the Rock Springs Grazing Association and became the chief legal counsel for the organization. Taliaferro served a term as the second mayor of Green River 1893-1896. The house has remained in the Taliaferro family since 1914.