The David Tapley Residence is located within the Douglas Avenue Preservation Area of Saint John. This protected area was originally built in the mid-1850s and connected Main Street with the then-new suspension bridge at Reversing Falls, and was part of the City of Portland prior to the city's merging with Saint John in 1889. The area is recognized for its integration of working-class, middle-class, and upper-class citizens and its richly interconnected community, which is due in part to the spacious front lawns of the local properties.

The David Tapley Residence is named after its original owner, David Tapley. Tapley had the building constructed in 1868 and lived in it until his death in 1894. Tapley was involved in a number of roles over his lifetime. At times acting as a lumber surveyor, a politician, and a lawyer, he is better known for being the first Police Magistrate and Judge of the Civil Court of the Town of Portland. He is also notable for introducing a measure that changed the number of members on a coroner's jury from 12 to 7.