Tucson, AZ - Most travelers to Tucson are familiar with the Tucson Warehouse & Transfer building located in downtown Tucson. Built in 1918, the 16,000 square foot four story building has been a landmark location for many years.
Tucson Warehouse & Transfer Co.
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The old Tucson Warehouse & Transfer Co. building rises four stories above the corner of Sixth Street and Seventh Avenue, looking every bit like the sturdy industrial survivor it is. Faded lettering stretches across the upper walls, advertising moving, packing and storage services from another era. It is the kind of building that seems to carry its entire history right on the outside.
The most eye-striking sight of the building is the big neon sign that also used to features an image of a Mayflower truck.
Tucson Warehouse & Transfer Company
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
That history reaches back to 1892, when the company began as Pioneer Transfer near Stone Avenue and Pennington Street. In those days, moving required plenty of muscle. Teams of draft horses and wagons hauled trunks, furniture and freight from the Southern Pacific depot to homes and businesses around territorial Tucson.
Cattle rancher Colin Cameron purchased the operation in 1906, moved it closer to the railroad tracks and renamed it Tucson Transfer Co. As Tucson grew, so did the business. The company needed more room for all the furniture, pianos, automobiles and commercial inventory passing through its doors.
Tucson Warehouse & Transfer Company
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The present reinforced-concrete warehouse was completed in 1918. Built to resist fire and handle some seriously heavy loads, the massive structure offered about 16,000 square feet of storage space. The company continued using horses for several more years before switching entirely to motorized trucks in 1922. Somewhere along the way, a moving van became one of its familiar advertising symbols.
This was not simply a matter of carrying sofas across town. Tucson Warehouse & Transfer took on industrial jobs that required a little more planning and probably a few nervous glances. Crews moved mining equipment, electric shovels and enormous kilns for the Arizona Portland Cement plant. The warehouse also held the remaining inventory of local businesses that had gone under, creating quite a collection of Tucson odds and ends behind those thick concrete walls.
The Mayflower truck reflects back to the time when the company was the local agent for the Mayflower Company. Unfortunately, the top of the sign, and most of the truck image, broke off and fell during a storm in 2002. The sign still stand, albeit sans the Mayflower truck, though the wheels still show.
Tucson Warehouse & Transfer sans top of truck
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Business eventually slowed, and Tucson Warehouse & Transfer closed during the 1970s. The building survived and was purchased by the owners of Benjamin Supply in 1989. In later years, its cavernous interior became home to artists, designers and other creative tenants operating under the name Tucson Warehouse and Transfer Studios.
Another colorful chapter arrived in 2016 when artist Rock Martinez painted the towering “Goddess of Agave” on the west wall. The roughly 40-foot mural transformed the old industrial warehouse into a downtown landmark, with a desert goddess rising above the street amid giant agave leaves. The weather and relentless western sun eventually took their toll, but the mural became nearly as recognizable as the old warehouse lettering.
Tucson Warehouse & Transfer Company
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
UPDATE: In the late 2000's the business and building became threatened by redevelopment nearby with the Downtown Links project proposing a roadway that would cut off access for incoming trucks as well as slicing off part of the warehouse and parking. However, the City has shown a willingness to work with the business by moving the roadway to allow trucking access to the location. 08-13
UPDATE: Central Arizona Supply is renovating the century-old warehouse as an upscale appliance and plumbing-fixture showroom with a demonstration kitchen. Deteriorating stucco was removed from the west wall in February 2026, taking the faded Goddess of Agave mural with it, although plans have been discussed to recreate the artwork later. The historic Tucson Warehouse & Transfer lettering remains visible on the building, keeping a little of the old moving company in place as the concrete landmark prepares for yet another job. 09-26
Tucson Warehouse & Transfer Co.
Tucson Warehouse & Transfer Company
Tucson Warehouse & Transfer Company
Tucson Warehouse & Transfer sans top of truck
Tucson Warehouse & Transfer Company
