I had a few days off last week. What do I do? More research of course. But this time it was research in the guise of touring an old warehouse.I was following up on a tip from my friend Dan who pointed me in the direction of a guy who manages a self storage business that just happens to inhabit the old Bekins building on R Street. My new friend at the storage place has spent some time digging up history on his building and there is a very nice historical display in his office befitting the ol' place.
Built in 1920 for Capital Van and Storage, the five story warehouse was one of three in Sacramento owned by that firm. If my initial Google research holds, Capital was bought by Bekins Van and Storage company around 1926.The building looks almost exactly (besides the lack of Bekins signage) as it did after the 1948 expansion.
The highlight of the tour was riding the freight elevator. It's the original Otis model that was installed in 1920 - still operational and running quite smoothly. It's exactly where the 1951 era Sanborn map, that I've been studying for years, shows it should be. The warehouse had a 3 car capacity spur on the Southern Pacific side of the street.
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