Snow, C.W., & Company Warehouse

Built in 1913 at 230 West Willow Street, just west of downtown Syracuse, this four-story warehouse was designed by local architect Archimedes Russell for the C.W. Snow & Company wholesale drug business. It replaced a large residence in an area that had shifted from housing to warehouses and light industry. The building is poured-in-place reinforced concrete with painted brick curtain walls and a flat roof, and it uses C.A.P. Turner's patented mushroom columns, which carry flat concrete slabs without girders. Russell was known for historical styles in stone and brick, so this plain utilitarian design was a sharp departure, and it is his only reinforced concrete industrial building. Sanborn map research suggests it was among the earliest reinforced concrete buildings in Syracuse and probably the first to use mushroom columns. After standing vacant for many years, it was converted in 2005-2006 into 48 loft apartments and small commercial space, with the exposed columns, concrete ceilings and an original product slide retained.