Santa Fe Freight Depot - Use As A Freight Depot

Use As A Freight Depot

Built in 1907, the depot was designed by Harrison Albright, a pioneer in the use of reinforced concrete, as a railroad freight depot. The Santa Fe Coast lines secured the property along the Los Angeles River and spent approximately $300,000 building the enormous concrete building. The depot was built to replace a freight center that had burned to the ground, and the narrow steel-reinforced concrete structure became a local landmark. For half its length, the building is only 37 feet (11 m) in width but, at 1,250 feet (380 m) in length, it is as long as the Empire State Building is tall. The building had 120 bays with opening on both sides, allowing freight cars to unload on one side while trucks were loaded on the other side.