Another amazing location in St. Louis, visible from Rootwad Park.

The Cotton Belt Freight Depot was built by Thompson & Scott for the St. Louis Southwestern Railway in 1911. Construction on the five-story freight depot was completed in 1913, and was quickly recognized by many for its unique construction. To this day, the building still sits an odd one out for having rather strange dimensions for an industrial structure. At 750 feet long and only 30 feet wide, people have said that it resembles more of a wall than an actual factory.

Loading dock doors can be seen on both sides of the structure, with a concrete awning hanging over them. Windows line each upper story of the building, with the tallest area on one side formerly housing the company offices.

Upon opening their doors and beginning operations on January 1, 1913, the depot would handle freight movement for the St. Louis Southwestern Railway. The SSW had become known by the nickname of “The Cotton Belt Route” and was a US Class I railroad, which operated between St. Louis, Missouri and some areas of Arkansas and Texas. The railway operated from 1891 through 1992, but this factory had shuttered its doors long before the railway ceased operations.  

During the early 1900s, the cotton industry was booming, and would continue to see some steady movement for at least a few more decades. It was around the middle of the century that things would slow to a much lower point for the industry as the demand for cotton fell. Following this decline, the factory eventually halted operations and closed their doors for good in 1959; the factory has sat vacant ever since. When the depot was closed, the freight forwarding company, Acme had moved operations to East St. Louis, bringing them a bit closer to the Valley Junction Yard.

The long-abandoned depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 21, 2004. This continues to be one of the few factors saving it from being demolished to make way for a proposed stadium. The structure remains an important part of St. Louis’ industrial history, and has been a large focus in revitalization projects in the area. During one such project is when the eastern side of the building was covered in the bright “Migrate” mural that can be seen today. While the building remains surrounded by a lot of empty industry, there are hopes to bring some light to the area, rather than focusing on it as rundown or dirty. The mural was painted with hopes that it could help provide a welcoming scene for visitors entering via the Mississippi River Bridge built in 2014. With such an important collection of history surrounding the entire area, it should be a place to appreciate. The old depot was named “Best Old Building” by the Riverfront Times, a weekly newspaper in St. Louis.

Since 2002, the old depot has been home to Artica – an annual grassroots outdoor arts festival.

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