The original funding of the McNeely Foundation occurred in the 1960s as a gift of Saint Paul Terminal Warehouse corporate stock--the parent company of Meritex Enterprises, Inc. and Space Center, Inc.--from Harry G. McNeely, Sr. and his wife, Adelaide Frenzel McNeely. 

The St Paul Terminal Warehouse Company was founded in 1916 in Saint Paul, Minnesota by Harry G. McNeely as a warehousing and distribution business with a small sum borrowed from relatives. It grew to provide trucking services in the 1920's and began to acquire and develop real estate in the 1930's. The real estate portfolio continued to expand with acquisitions and development, including subsurface space. The Company leveraged the earlier logistics business and continued to transform the Company into principally a real estate investment company. The Company was a pioneer in the creation and development of underground warehouse distribution facilities by a real estate organization. The focus of the Company in the years to follow was built on the warehousing, logistics and real estate needs of users throughout the U.S.