Designed by well-known local architect Benjamin B. Owens, the "Flour Warehouse" is a unique industrial landmark on the east side of Baltimore's downtown. When contractor S.H. and J.F. Adams erected the building for the Terminal Warehouse Company in 1894, the Northern Central Railroad maintained a line down Guilford Avenue connecting Baltimore's factories and warehouses to far-flung farms and markets across the state and country.
The company expanded in 1912 with an addition built by the Noel Construction Company and, through the 1970s, remained one of the oldest warehouses in continuous use by the same corporation. For several years, the building housed the Baltimore City Archives and the Baltimore City Department of Planning. After a new owner planned to demolish warehouse in 2007, local residents successfully fought to preserve the building for future reuse.
Built by the Northern Central Railroad, the former Baltimore Freight Shed is a rare example of composite timber and iron roof construction of the mid nineteenth century.
The roof structure is comprised of a series of tricomposite trusses with timber top chords, wrought iron tension rods, and cast iron compression members. This use of both timber and iron in the same roofing system formed a transition period between short span timber trusses and longer span iron and steel trusses that would be in widespread use by the end of the century. The building remains in use today as the home of the Merritt Downtown Athletic Club.