Constructed in 1924 as the headquarters for the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway and the Southwest's largest merchandising center, three of the original four buildings remain today and have been renovated into various uses.

[4] The site chosen for the terminal complex was already owned by the railroad and served by tracks connecting with the East Dallas GC&SF yard.

The depot was razed and a vast, 100,000 cubic yard excavation done with the equivalent of a box car load of dynamite.

Project architect Lloyd R. Whitson, working with engineers and railroad planners from the AT&SF, planned the complex so that four buildings, in a line running north to south from Commerce to Young Streets, could be served by up to three sets of underground railroad tracks branching from a central subsurface line, which emerged from the underground farther south near the present Dallas Convention Center.

The structure featured several setbacks and ornamental arches designed in the Mission Revival style topped by a barrel vaulted roof.

The rear of the building connected to a 10-story warehouse wing fronting Jackson Street and served as the terminus of the freight depot.

This structure was built as 10-story warehouses in light brown brick with large open industrial spaces and concrete columns.

Thirty-five to forty rail cars entered the tunnel each day, pulled by a "hot water bottle" locomotive.

It was specially designed to prevent smoke in the main line and its six spurs in the tunnels by being charged with steam, which would last from four to five hours from a central, high pressure boiler under the office building.

A 1924 Santa Fe Magazine article called the engine a "unique feature in locomotive construction, only one other of its type being in existence."

Rail cars carried goods into the buildings and then the 21 freight elevators lifted merchandise to upper-level showrooms and first-floor trucking platforms.

1 by eminent domain, converting portions of the building to serve as headquarters for the U.S. Army 8th Service Command as well as an enlistment center.

Construction of the nearby Dallas Convention Center severed the link to the main rail lines, and over time the warehouses became vacant.