Storage expert witnesses may opine on public storage facilities, mini-storage facilities, and self storage. Here, in the History of Self Storage, Paul Darden writes:
The switch to “self-storage” as we know it today, was started in the mid 1960s by the early pioneers such as Russ Williams, Bob Munn, Charles, Ronald, and Richard Bowyer, Louis Rochester and his many partners, Tom Brundage, Guy Robertson, and Sam Judge. To put their accomplishments into perspective, each of them was building prior to 1970. It was not until 1972 that Public Storage built their first facility in El Cajon, California.
Williams and his stepson Munn built the first self-storage facility in Texas called “A-1 U-Store-It U-Lock-It U-Carry the Key” in Odessa. Russ Williams worked his entire life in the oil industry, and in the 1960s he owned an oil industry service company. Russ and Bob were both avid fishermen, and they needed a place to store both their boats and their oil field equipment. Other firms in the oil industry also needed to have quick access storage for their equipment in the event of an emergency. According to Munn, Williams had seen some apartments somewhere with four to 10 garages side by side with common walls between them. (There was such a project in Irving, Texas built by Paul Nelson in 1962). Others have reported that Williams heard about the concept while ill in a hospital. Williams discussed the idea of building a storage facility with Louis Rochester in 1964. Rochester chose not to become a partner in the original building, but sold the land to Williams for that first facility.
Read more: txssa.org.