Cotton Belt Freight Depot

	Cotton Belt Freight Depot
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Cotton Belt Freight Depot in May 2018
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Location	1400 N. 1st St.,; St. Louis, Missouri
Coordinates	38°38′27″N 90°10′57″W / 38.64083°N 90.18250°WCoordinates: 38°38′27″N 90°10′57″W / 38.64083°N 90.18250°W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1913
Built by	St. Louis Southwestern Railway; Thompson & Scott
Architectural style	Railroad freight depot
NRHP reference No.	04000344
Added to NRHP	April 21, 2004

The Cotton Belt Freight Depot in St. Louis, Missouri in the Near North Riverfront neighborhood. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Current status[]

The depot is vacant and graffiti litters its walls, but the building retains integrity of design, workmanship, setting, and association.^[1]

The Cotton Belt Freight Depot has been named "Best Old Building" by the Riverfront Times, a weekly newspaper in St. Louis.^[2]

The building and grounds have been used as a setting for wedding, engagement, and graduation photos.^[3]

History[]

The five-story freight depot was constructed in 1911 to handle freight movement for SSW. It has been vacant since 1959.^[4] The depot opened on January 1,1913 with two miles of house, team, and storage tracks . When this freight depot was closed, the freight forwarding company, Acme moved its operations to East St. Louis to be closer to Valley Junction Yard.

The St. Louis Southwestern Railway (reporting mark SSW), known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply Cotton Belt, is a former US Class I railroad which operated between St. Louis, Missouri, and various points in the states of Arkansas and Texas from 1891 to 1992.

Architecture[]

The building is notable for its long, narrow shape. The concrete building is approximately 750' on its east and west elevations and only 30' on the north and south. The five stories include a series of loading dock doors on both sides that are sheltered by a concrete awning. Widely spaced metal-frame industrial type windows line the upper stories. A slightly taller cornice line marks the section of the building where the company offices were located. Most of the building's detail is reserved for this section where the company's name is displayed in two levels over a bay window.

Other details include terra cotta medallions on the corners bearing the name "Cotton Belt Route"; a Classical style frame around the office door; keystones that decorate the windows near the building's north end; and copper lion's heads that join the awning poles to the building. Direct link to National Register nomination document: http://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/04000344.pdf

Activities and culture[]

Artica[]

Since 2002, the Cotton Belt Freight Depot has been the usual location of Artica, an annual grassroots outdoor and multidisciplinary arts festival.^{[citation needed]}

"Migrate" mural[]

Work was completed to utilize the depot's distinctive eastern wall for a large scale mural; a renovation that intends to transform the site into a welcoming visage for those traveling entering the state via the upcoming Mississippi River bridge.^[3]^[4]

Gallery[]

After the "Migrate" mural
Before the "Migrate" mural
Alternative name on the Western facade

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ "Best Old Building 2011".
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Artists Transform Abandoned Building into 'Welcome to Missouri' Sign". 3 October 2014.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Cotton Belt Freight Depot: Local Artists Dream of Adding Giant Mural to Iconic Ruin (Photos)".

Cotton Belt Public Relations Traffic Special memorandum dated April 10, 1947.
Cotton Belt News October 1957, see Chapter 4 Britton Succeeds Gould
Cotton Belt News October 1957, see Chapter 5 Freight Stations Enlarged and Modernized.
Blue Streak Merchandise by Fred W. Frailey, Kalmbach Publishing 1991. See pages 12, 27, 29, and 36.
This links to the text of the October 1957 issue of the Cotton Belt News https://www.ttarchive.com/Library/Articles/Cotton-Belt_80-Years-Progress.html#4

[nris-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[riverfronttimes.com-2] "Best Old Building 2011".

[news.stlpublicradio.org-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Artists Transform Abandoned Building into 'Welcome to Missouri' Sign". 3 October 2014.

[ReferenceA-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Cotton Belt Freight Depot: Local Artists Dream of Adding Giant Mural to Iconic Ruin (Photos)".

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