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Built in 1923, this home was originally owned by William Bryan of Grimesland, who in turn sold it to Charles W. Howard (1886-1953), a Durham County native who moved to Greenville from Kinston, with his wife Hannah and son Charles Jr., in 1927. A second son, John L. Howard, was born in the house in 1928.

Charles W. Howard was founder, president and treasurer of the Greenville Tobacco Company. He also served as a director of the State Bank and Trust Company, and as president of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce and the Greenville Tobacco Board of Trade. He served on the local school board, and was a member of the board of Jarvis Memorial Methodist Church.

Upon Mr. Howard's death in 1953 at age 66, sons Charles Jr. and John took over operation of the Greenville Tobacco Company. Mr. Howard's widow, Hannah P. Howard, lived in the Howard House until her passing in 1980, at age 89. The following year, East Carolina University purchased the house from the two Howard sons. At first the Howard House was used as headquarters for the ECU Police, but traffic problems caused the police to move to its present location in the Blount House on East 10th Street. The Howard House then became the home of the ECU News Bureau.

Charles W. Howard, Jr. saw active combat as an Army scout in World War II, receiving the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. He served on the Greenville Housing Authority as its first chairman, and served on the local and N.C. state boards of NCNB/Nationsbank (now Bank of America). He was also an elder and twice chairman of the board at First Christian Church. Charles Jr. was born in May 1923 in Kinston, N.C., and passed away in December 1998 at Pitt County Memorial Hospital, at age 75. Charlie's widow Betty Lou still makes her home in Greenville, and his daughter Cindy lives with her husband in Raleigh.

John L. Howard served six terms on the Greenville City Council, from 1963-69 and 1973-79. He was chairman of the Pitt-Greenville Airport Authority in 1968-69, president of the Greenville Museum of Art from 1985-87, a past president of the ECU Friends of the Library, and a board member and founder of New East Bank. At the time of his death he was president-elect of the Greenville Golf and Country Club. John was born in October 1928 in the Howard House, and died in February 1991 at Pitt County Memorial Hospital, at age 62. John's widow Parma lives in Greenville, as do his son and daughter, John Jr. and Hannah. John Jr. is an instructor in the Management Information Systems Department, College of Business at East Carolina University. Hannah, a Certified Clinical Social Worker, is a partner in Eastern Psychiatric and Behavioral Specialists.

In addition to their ownership and management positions at Greenville Tobacco Company, both Howard brothers held executive vice-president positions at Thorpe-Greenville Export Tobacco Company, based in Rocky Mount and Greenville. Both were also past presidents and board members of both the Tobacco Association of the United States and the Leaf Tobacco Exporters Association.