Industrious Beginnings
Construction began on the Old Dominion Commercial Co. Warehouse in 1905. It was built of durable Maurel Block, poured on site by Jule Maurel, a world-renowned architect, whose concrete blocks were a staple in the building industry. The warehouse was used to store the Old Dominion Copper Mine’s drilling mud and equipment.
In 1909, two additional warehouse bays were added to the north end of the building. These bays were used to store the Old Dominion Mercantile dry goods. The railroad tracks ran along the west side of the building where the commodities were loaded directly into the warehouse through the huge sliding wooden doors (one of which has been preserved).
The goods were then loaded out the opposite side of the warehouse, onto Broad Street, and into wagons or trucks for delivery to the mercantile retail store in downtown Globe.
During most of the 20th Century, the Old Dominion Warehouse was utilized primarily for the storage of a variety of products. However, there were periods when the old building was vacant, as evidenced by the graffiti that still decorates the walls.