Farmers and Merchants Cotton Gin Warehouse

Located at 402 S. East in Victoria, Texas, this one-story brick warehouse once served the Farmers and Merchants Gin Company, which began operating around the turn of the century near East Juan Linn and South East streets, next to the Southern Pacific tracks. As the business prospered, it had grown enough by 1915 to commission a fireproof warehouse for storing its commodities. The square-plan building has a flat roof with a parapet, and the center of its three west-facing bays rises in a triangular raised parapet. Brick piers, segmental arches of buff-colored brick over the windows and doors, a decorative stepped brick course and a limestone beltcourse give it slight classical references. Small wood-sash windows with metal bars add to its character. It is the only structure surviving from the original gin complex, and it sits in an area of warehouses and railroad-related buildings east of the original townsite. Its architecture and its role in local commerce support its listing.