The Warehouse Historic District, which lies on the eastern edge of the Downtown Historic District, is roughly bounded on the west by Thomas Street, on the north by Hancock Street, on the east by the Georgia Railroad, and on the south by Mitchell Street.

This 35-acre district, its north-south length about three times greater than its east-west width, occupies the upper slope of a hillside extending eastward down to the North Oconee River. From the relatively flat crest of Thomas Street, the district extends eastward down the slope to the Georgia Railroad boundary. Rail yards form two large open spaces within the district, while railroad tracks curving across the southern part bisect it from the northern. Because of the resulting irregular division of the district, distribution of its buildings lacks uniformity. It contains a number of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century warehouses, several commercial structures, and a depot. Constructed by storage and wholesale enterprises, the majority of the warehouse buildings possess minimal ornamentation, reflecting their functional nature. Although a few of the warehouses are of frame construction sheathed in metal, they are mostly built of brick and detached, while others were built attached in rows. Common features include one-and two-story construction, simple window and doorway openings, cornices, and bay arrangements on the side elevations formed by brick pilasters. Flat, segmental, or round-arched windows and stepped cornices provide most of the detailing, although a variety of architectural elements embellish the more prominent warehouses. The district's three commercial buildings on Broad Street, which intersects Thomas near the center of the district, are typical of Athens' downtown construction. Two of them possess brick false fronts with brick corbelling at the top, and full-facade, 14-light transoms. The third and largest is a two-story brick building highlighted by three second-story, round-arched windows detailed with granite keystones and lintels and brick drip moldings. The district also contains a two-story brick depot with brick pilasters at the corners and a stepped cornice at each end. Often referred to as the Downtown East area, the Warehouse Historic District is currently witnessing substantial development activity. Of three large scale projects designed for the area, by October 1995 one was completed, construction of a second was almost finished, and a third was still in the planning stage. The Athens Banner Herald's News Building on the northeast corner of East Broad and Thomas streets was completed in 1994. The Classic City Civic Center between Thomas and Foundry streets, which incorporated the historic Firehall No. 1, opened for business in September 1995 although the theatre building was still under construction. Construction had not yet begun on the Multi-Modal Transportation Center, proposed for the sloping hillside between Foundry Street and the railroad boundary.

The Warehouse Historic District, despite lying adjacent to downtown, developed relatively late. The delay occurred primarily because construction of the Georgia Railroad from Augusta in 1841, the first rail line to reach the Athens area, failed to bridge the North Oconee River, terminating instead at Carr's Hill on the east side opposite the Athens Factory. For the next forty years Athenians had to haul freight from the Carr's Hill terminus across the river by wagon team. In the meantime, other rail lines approached Athens from the South and West. Construction of the North East Railroad came in the 1870s, the Georgia Railroad finally bridged the river and built a new depot in the warehouse district in the 1880s for both freight and passenger service, and by 1893 the district had begun to assume its present character. The Seaboard Railroad added another freight depot to the district at the turn of the century, and two other railroads, the Norfolk and Southern and the Macon and Northern (known later as the Central of Georgia), extended rail service to the warehouses on Foundry Street. Stimulated by these rail connections, the warehouse district became a bustling area of shipping, wholesale, and storage enterprises including grocery distribution, cotton and fertilizer warehousing, and small industry. Although a mixture of residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial uses characterized the district as late as 1909, by 1826 it had become almost exclusively a warehouse and wholesale center. In the 1960s, urban renewal programs eliminated most of the remaining residential uses in the district and left a number of properties vacant.

Several structures of individual distinction grace the district. These include the F.M. Coker Cotton Warehouse, the triangular-shaped Farmers Hardware Building on the southeast corner of Broad and Thomas streets, the Hodgson Oil Refinery building, and the Seaboard Railroad Depot (see Inventory: Part II). Demolition of the Georgia Railroad Depot and the Hanna Bat Factory building, along with substantial new construction, has prompted an amendment to revise the district's boundary. Submitted in September 1992, the amendment is currently pending review by the Georgia National Register Review Board.

The Warehouse Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (October 20, 1988).