Storage Units History

There are so many storage units globally we don’t think about how they came to be in the first place. It seems like such a simple concept that you wouldn’t consider how it started.

• Beginning
  • Over 6,000 years ago, the concept of storage was started in ancient China. Natives would place their possessions into clay pots and bury them underground in pits. Guards also protected these pits, like storage units today have locks, gates, surveillance video, and other security methods. It’s claimed that Xiang Lau was the first person to use this idea. Lau’s home was full of pots, stones, and the bones of his slain enemies. Lau’s wife was upset at all the bones in their home after constantly stumbling on them. To solve this problem, Lau built a hut for his collection of bones and pottery. Lau created clay pots for his bones and then dug an underground pit to place the pots in. Then Lau began to profit from his neighbors storing their pots in his underground pit.
• 1800s Britain
  • British banks would store items for their clients while they were overseas. As time passed, the banks would eventually become overcrowded, which led to the first warehouse being designed for storing items in the 1850s
• Late 1800s America
  • Martin Bekins and John Bekins founded Bekin Van Lines in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1891. This company was horse-drawn vans that delivered and stored goods across the state. The company eventually expanded its services as far as Los Angeles, and in 1906 Bekin Van Lines built the first concrete and steel storage warehouse. This building is similar to the storage units that you see today.
• 1900s
  • In Texas in 1964, the self-storage industry saw success with the first garage-style door. This design was swiftly popular across the nation and Canada.
• Today
  • Today there are over 50,000 storage unit facilities, with an annual industry revenue of around $39 billion.

Now that we’ve recapped the backstory of self-storage, come to be a part of history by renting a Tellus Self Storage unit!