When officially named in the 1980s in honor of J. William Stuart, class of 1932, this house had already enjoyed fifty years of service to Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  A need for more living space led Dickinson’s chapter of Phi Delta Theta to construct Stuart House in 1931.  Their previous residence, a stone lodge located on the corner of Louther and College Streets, could no longer accommodate the fraternity. 

Stuart House served the fraternity, with a gap in 1944-1945 when it was rented to the College as a women's dormitory, until June 13, 1964, when the College purchased it at a cost of $57,000.  Phi Delta Theta then relocated to the newly constructed Fraternity Quadrangle.  A $24,000 renovation shortly after the purchase enabled Stuart House to become the new home of the Office of Communication and Development.  The building later became a student residence once again in the 1980s..