The Life and Legacy of the Nashville Warehouse Co.
It Takes a City to Make a Village
In the nineteenth-century American South, the railroad was destiny. With Nashville's central location and skilled workforce, the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad made the city one of the country's most important manufacturing and distribution hubs.
The Nashville Warehouse Company was one of the first major businesses to capitalize on this growing rail infrastructure. Built in 1875 at the intersection of the Nashville and Chattanooga Rail and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Nashville Warehouse Company was a massive brick, steel, and timber building that stored corn, wheat, and flour for transit.
Under the leadership of William Marshall McCarthy, who would later become Mayor of Nashville, the Warehouse Company expanded rapidly, growing alongside the surrounding neighborhood.
Employees of the Louisville + Nashville Railroad are seen at the railroad's South Nashville yard near Chestnut Street around 1918.
The L+N and NC+StL railroads were instrumental in Nashville’s rise to significance in the 18th and 19th centuries. These rail lines intersected in Wedgewood Houston, positioning the neighborhood as an industrial area with brick warehouses and factories that continue to define the local character of the neighborhood today
“The Nashville Warehouse Company was a point of pride for the surrounding community where many of its workers lived, and an ideal neighbor for emerging businesses like May Hosiery Mills.”
A Fire Sparks Big Business in Tobacco
On July 31, 1883, a massive fire broke out at the warehouse, causing extensive damage. Undeterred, the Nashville Warehouse Company rebuilt their facilities, eventually doubling their capacity and adding the first concrete grain elevator in the South.
By the turn of the twentieth century, tobacco had become one of the biggest businesses in Tennessee, and the Nashville Warehouse Company became one of the largest tobacco storage facilities in the South, helping make Nashville the largest inland tobacco market in the United States. The Nashville Warehouse Company was a point of pride for the surrounding community where many of its workers lived and an ideal neighbor for emerging businesses like May Hosiery Mills.
But that all ended on January 14, 1922, when another fire struck the building, endangering the entire community. The valiant efforts of the local fire department saved the neighborhood. But the Nashville Warehouse Company was lost.
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A Warehouse Reborn and Reimagined
Today, Nashville Warehouse Co. has been reimagined and reconfigured by AJ Capital Partners. Designed to celebrate its ties to the historic railroad while providing modern offices and homes for industrious residents who want to immerse themselves in the sense of history and gritty authenticity of Wedgewood Houston.
The building's form pays homage to its railroad past by evoking a great train shed. Its materials—masonry, metal, and heavy timber construction—recall the site's original brick, steel, and timber building.
As the city’s first large-scale, modern mass timber building, Nashville Warehouse Co. offers contemporary Class A office space with 14-foot floor-to-floor heights, floor-to-ceiling windows, and voluminous, daylit interior spaces. The campus features on-site parking, a fitness center, a 273-unit residential building, and an acre of communal green space less than a mile from downtown.