Tucson storage facilities came into being at the dawn of man when our ancestors began to store their food and weapons in external stone storage units. They negotiated self-storage insurance contracts, and they even began to keep their more valuable items (like the shiny rock!) in an ancient self-storage unit because they knew it would be safe. Well, that’s what we wanted to believe. The truth about the history of self-storage is more interesting, and far more believable. To condense our fascinating industry history, please enjoy the following interesting bullet points. 10 Historical Facts About Self-Storage Self storage might have started in Ancient China, 2,000 years ago (Source: The Sparefoot Blog, 2013). Bekins Storage, originally a moving company in Iowa, built the first concrete storage warehouse in 1906 (Source: Bekins, 2013). Tucson self-storage and other self-storage as we know it today started taking shape in 1960 with a storage facility in Texas aptly called, “A-1 U-Store-It U-Lock-It U-Carry the Key." By 1970, the owners had built several more self-storage locations to serve the growing Texas oil and gas industry, as well the prolific fishing and boating industry. (Source: TMSA, 2001). American consumerism was on the rise in the 1970’s and 1980’s. This lead to a growing number of Americans making more purchases, and then needing more storage as a result. Slate says that, “In the early 1970s, what would become the big national players arrived on the scene- Shurgard National Storage Centers, Public Storage (the orange one), Storage USA” (Source: Slate, 2014). Even BBC notices that America has a craze for storage units. “The mania for storage centers began in the US in the 1960s and the country now has over 50,000 such facilities” (Source: BBC News, 2014). The “boom” happened at the turn of the century. Between 2000 and 2005, the US DOUBLED its amount of self-storage space. (Source: Sparefoot Blog, 2012). Right now, the USA boasts 46,500 self storage facilities, our local Tucson RV storage and Tucson storage facility among them (Source: SSA, 2013). Tucson RV Storage, Tucson Boat Storage, or Just Tucson Storage Units You’re covered! US Storage Centers is part of a long and rich history based on customer service and superior quality self-storage. Why don’t you visit us to find out why today! US Storage Centers 4115 East Speedway Tucson, AZ 85712 (520) 442-0010