One of the things I love about traveling, whether overseas or around the United States, is stumbling upon little historical locations by accident. While passing through the town of LeRoy, New York, I discovered that it was there that Jell-O dessert was created.

This happened again during my wife’s and my visit to the State of Washington. After a day of sightseeing north of Vancouver, Washington, we decided to find a place to have dinner. We felt like having pizza, but not from one of those pizza chains – something local. Using the app on our smartphone, we found a pizzeria that sounded good, only 3 miles off of I-5 in the town of Ridgefield. As we entered the city, the welcome sign read, “Welcome to Ridgefield, the birthplace of U-Haul.” We had struck obscure historical gold again.

I believe that just about everyone in the United States has rented from U-Haul at least once, either one of their trailers or trucks. The story of U-Haul is another one of entrepreneurial inspiration and hard work, but as with the story of McDonald’s and Jell-O, it has a sad side, too.
U-Haul’s beginnings are a simple tale of a couple needing something, not being able to find it, then building a business to fulfill that need for others. The story of U-Haul begins in Los Angeles, California, in 1945, at the end of World War II, when the newly discharged 29-year-old Navy veteran Leonard “Sam” Shoen and his wife, Anna Mary, tried to rent a trailer to take their belongings north to Portland, Oregon. What they found was that there were trailer rental companies in Los Angeles, but they could only be used around that city, and they were also very small. Cramming what luggage they could, along with their small son, into their 1937 Ford, they headed north. On their way to Portland, they discussed the need for a trailer rental service that people could use from city to city or even from state to state on a one-way basis. Besides coming up with this business plan, they also came up with a name for their company, U-Haul.
With a $5,000 investment, Sam began building his trailers in the garage on Anna Mary’s parents’ home just outside of Ridgefield, Washington. Shoen’s idea was to build the trailers and then find partnering gas stations, which would be franchised agents, to rent them and split the rental fees. Within two weeks of them leaving Los Angeles, the first of their 4’ X 7’ U-Haul trailers was sitting at a Mobil gas station on the Interstate in Portland, ready to be rented.

Shoen came up with a great marketing plan; First, he developed a unique look for his trailers by painting them bright orange. Secondly, he identified all of his trailers with the name, U-Haul Co., and thirdly, he included advertising messages on each trailer that read: “Trailer Rental,” and “$2.00 Per Day.” In addition to helping grow his U-Haul outlets, he offered discounts to customers who signed up gas station agents at their destination.
All of Shoen’s hard work and marketing paid off; by the end of 1949, you could rent a U-Haul trailer one way to almost any city in the United States, and by 1955, you could rent one throughout Canada. By the end of 1959, the U-Haul trailer fleet numbered over 42,600 trailers across North America. In 1951, Shoen reorganized the U-Haul Trailer Rental Company under a new holding company named Associated Rental Companies of America (ARCOA). In 1967, Shoen moved the corporate offices from Portland, Oregon, to Phoenix, Arizona.
Today, U-Haul remains the largest do-it-yourself moving rental company in the country. Since Sam Shoen’s first trailers, U-Haul has added to its lineup trucks, vans, and large storage containers. Some of their franchises also offer self-storage units, package shipping supplies, and alternative fuels for vehicles and backyard grills.

A success marred by tragedies
On May 4, 1957, Sam came home and expressed to Anna Mary how great things were going for them and U-Haul; life couldn’t have been better. That night, tragedy struck. Anna died of a heart attack at only 34 years old, and Sam was left with six young children to care for. Doctors had told Anna not to have children because of her heart condition, but she and Sam couldn’t resist having a large family.

After Anna’s death, Shoen married four more times, three ending in divorce. He would also father six more children with his other wives in addition to the six with Anna. Shoen made all of his children stockholders in ARCOA, leaving only 2% of the stock and control for himself. In 1986, two of his sons, Mark and Edward, launched a successful takeover of the business, which Sam could do nothing about.
On October 4, 1999 Leonard Shoen was killed in Las Vegas Nevada when he ran his car into a telephone pole, he was 83 years old. The Cook County Coroner’s office ruled it a suicide.
Finding the site where Shoen built his first U-Haul trailers

I visited Ridgefield City’s website to find the location of Anna’s parents’ ranch and the garage where Sam built his trailers. Under the heading of “what to see in Ridgefield,” it showed the location and an address just north of the downtown. The problem we encountered was that the address on the website didn’t match the road indicated on the map. We even asked those working in the restaurant if they knew where it was, to no avail. After multiple times driving back and forth, we finally gave up. But somewhere on one of those backcountry roads north of the town is a garage where U-Haul began.

Vinnie’s
Going back to why we went to Ridgefield to begin with, we were looking for a local pizzeria. What we found was Vinnie’s. Vinnie’s is a small family restaurant specializing in simple Italian fare.
Salvatore Oliveri, a Sicilian restaurateur, began his journey across the United States from New York City, bringing his family recipe for the perfect New York-style pizza with him. The Oliveri family remains deeply involved in maintaining the quality and service at their restaurants.

My wife and I started with a delicious Mediterranean salad, followed by their “Combination” pizza. The pizza was fantastic, and a true New York-style in crust and sauce.
After we finished our server asked if we’d like dessert, we asked “what do you have?” She went down a list of six items ending with Cannoli and Tiramisu, of which she said, “Mama had just made them.” We had both, and they were to die for.
We like Vinnie’s so much that we made the trek out from Vancouver once again before we left.
They also have a location in Vancouver, but we liked the small-town feel of their Ridgefield restaurant, so I highly recommend going there. And while you’re in Ridgefield, see if you can find that garage, the actual birthplace of U-Haul.

If you like this post, please read my others on how businesses got started: McDonald’s Restaurants, Jell-O, and Starbucks.