ST. LOUIS–The old Famous-Barr Warehouse, that sits along I-64 near the Market Street exit and is currently home to a Goodwill outlet, is one of three landmarks nominated to be added to the National Register of Historic Places. 

The structure played a major role in the rise and success of the St. Louis-based department store between 1925 and 1966, according to a draft version of the warehouse’s application. The concept of “warehousing” was instrumental in the twentieth-century growth of department stores across the country. 

Famous-Barr built the warehouse to store the goods for its flagship store in the Railway Exchange Building on Locust Street and also serve as a relay station to deliver goods to customers. The application also states the warehouse grew substantially between 1946 and 1947 as the number of retail stores and customers grew, with its final expansion in 1962. 

The nomination application also states the Famous-Barr Company was “revolutionary” for their plan to relocate delivery functions and warehousing away from the main store and other companies followed suit.

The warehouse was also a necessity for the addition of the company’s for its branch stores that had little capacity to store on-site reserve stock, according to the application. By the late 1990s, there were nearly 20 branch stores. 

The building also showcases the architecture of early-and mid-twentieth century warehouses, according to the application. It includes historic bricks, historic loading docs, exposed structural grids and steel sash windows for optimal daylight.

The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will consider its nomination later this month. The other two nominations are for the First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau and the Uptown Theater in Marceline.