The Usher H. Miller Residence located within the Douglas Avenue Preservation Area. This protected area was originally built in the mid-1850s and connected Main Street with the then-new suspension bridge at Reversing Falls. It 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.

Alexandra Street, where this residence is located, branched off from Douglas Avenue in 1910 to capitalize on the increase in traffic brought on by the advent of motorized vehicles. It sports an array of elaborate Arts and Crafts and post-Victorian residences.

The Usher H. Miller Residence was one of many residences constructed alongside Alexandra Street's initial development. Its first occupants, Parker Baker and Howard Ellis, only lived there briefly. In 1918, the house came into the possession of Usher H. Miller, who would remain there until his death in 1951. Miller worked in lumber and lime manufacturing from 1908 to 1917, and was additionally a forwarding agent for hay and feed shippers to the West Indies from 1915 to 1925.

During his lifetime, Miller was involved with a number of social causes. From 1919 to 1944, he served as Secretary-Treasurer of the New Brunswick Protestant Orphans Home. During his time with the organization, he oversaw the construction of an orphanage on Manawagonish Road and the merging of two orphanage bodies. Miller was also the second-ever president of the Children's Aid Society, greatly expanding the organization during his many years in the role, and acted as the longtime director of the Family Welfare Association.