Commonly referred to as the O'Dwyer Block, after the property's original owner, these buildings stand as one of the few reminders of the commercial district of Water Street in the mid 1800's and are part of only a handful of buildings to survive the Great Fire of 1892.

Built in 1847, the O'Dwyer Block originally had full classical facade in Revival style running east to Beck's Cove and featured a sandstone front exterior. Richard O'Dwyer occupied the building after its construction, where he continued to run the family business started in 1834. The O'Dwyers were major merchants at the time of the 1846 fire and had several contracts with firms in the British Isles. It appears that the O'Dwyers used all or part of the buildings, until the great fire of 1892. At that time Bowring Brothers temporarily occupied the buildings.

In 1916, the Bank of Nova Scotia demolished the two east-most buildings to construct its main branch.

The O'Dwyer Block has seen many owners and uses since the early 1900's, the most recent of which included an optician, several lounges and a restaurant. For many years, only the first and second floors were occupied, leading to severe deterioration of the upper floors. In 1988, a application for the demolition of the O'Dwyer Block was received by the City of St. John's. This resulted in a movement among the general public to save the buildings. This effort was successful in motivating St. John's City Council to consider serious action toward saving the buildings from destruction.

In 1989, the National Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada designated the section of Water Street containing the O'Dwyer Block as the first National Historic District in Canada. The O'Dwyer Block was a key factor in this designation, due to its historic and architectural significance as major part of the surrounding streetscape.

In late 1989 and 1990 the roof and underlying structural members were completely replaced, retaining the characteristic dormer windows. Many interior beams and columns were replaced with imported fir timbers. All exterior windows were replaced and the dissimilar storefronts removed. The buildings were basically made structurally sound and weather-proof.

Unfortunately, financial difficulties preverited the developers from completing the job and the O'Dwyer Block was again in jeopardy. At this point, the first mortgage holder of the building stepped in to finish the work that had been started. Mr. Robin Moore of Moore Holdings, undertook to complete the remaining renovation work. This work mainly involved replacing the mechanical and electrical systems, installing an elevator, construction of new storefronts in classical style and cleaning of the sandstone front facade. At present, only the first floor is occupied, with the upper three levels available as high-quality office space.