p. 26
Eeen haYing sXch toXgh lXcN that , GeciGeG to 
build my own trailers.  Bill Carty offered to 
let me use his automobile garage, which was a 
EXilGing appro[imatel\ [ feet, Zith a con-
crete GecN, for a shop  7his Zas at the fall of 
 anG Ze moYeG to the &art\ ranch, Zhich 
is aEoXt a mile oXt of 5iGgefielG, :ashington, 
and approximately 25 miles from the city limits 
of 3ortlanG, 2regon  7his Zas the first home of 
the U-Haul Co. trailer.
     , set Xp the first 8+aXl 5ental $gent in 
Portland Oregon, on Interstate St., in a Mobil 
gas service station.  I placed three trailers on 
this lot; lineG them Xp nicel\ anG that Zas oXr 
start  7railers Zere actXall\ renteG the first 
ZeeN, anG on the folloZing 0onGa\ , came 
aroXnG anG collecteG oXr share of the taNe  , 
continued to set up agencies at service stations 
with three or four trailers, until we had possibly 
six or seven different service stations renting 
anG Gispla\ing the first  trailers in the cit\  
of Portland.
     Since I had been renting trailers in service 
stations anG haG haG e[perience ZorNing in 
service station in my youth I decided the thing 
to Go Zas to finG a serYice station Zhere trail-
ers coXlG Ee EXilt  $fter checNing Zith a coXple 
of oil company supervisors, one of them recom-
mended a service station on Nicolai St.  In  
connection with this service station there was  
a small open-door shop, about 15x20 feet in size, 
in which the prior tenant had been building an 
occasional trailer from old automobiles.  As it 
turned out, there was a small house, situated 
right EacN of the serYice station  7his hoXse haG 
an electric stove that was serviceable and an 
oil heater anG this reall\ tooN m\ e\e, EecaXse 
this was what was needed to move the busi-
ness headquarters of the U-Haul Trailer Co. to 
Portland, Oregon.  It wasn’t long before trailers 

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