Status: Preserved
Address: 525 North Main Street, Memphis
Built: 1937
Architectural Style: Moderne-style façade
Original Function/Purpose: Transportation
History: Business magnate Frederick Smith Sr., father of Federal Express founder Fred Smith, established a Memphis-based national office for the Dixie Greyhound and Toddle House corporate offices. The Dixie Greyhound Bus Lines Complex was the centerpiece of two highly successful business ventures by Smith. The growing need for public transportation helped his one-route-a-day busing service transform into a highly lucrative business. When Smith’s businesses were sold, his son Frederick Jr. used the profits as start-up capital in the early 1970s to begin a new Memphis-based transportation company called Federal Express which revolutionized the pack delivery service. The firm Downtown Mini-Storage LLC purchased the property from the City of Memphis in February 2016 for use as a warehouse. In 2021 a new owner, believing there was a “better use for these incredible buildings,” proposed to relocate the storage operation. Then, with the help of historic preservation and adaptive reuse, the buildings in the complex, including the old Schlitz Brewery that was built in 1902, would be converted into a mixed-use development including retail space, industrial loft apartments and other residential units.
City Council District: 7
Super District: 8
County Commission District: 8