If you’ve been on the Seattle Underground Tour, you know that UPS launched here.

If you just said, “Wait, what?” this story is for you.

It starts in 1907 with a young man named Jim Casey. According to Dan McMackin, spokesperson for UPS, Casey came up with the idea to take messages from people and deliver them to others who didn’t have phones.

Messenger services existed in Seattle already, and competition was stiff. But Jim Casey had strict policies of customer service and low rates, and his personal mantra was “best service and lowest rates.”

Jim Casey, then 19, borrowed $100 and bought a bank of telephones and rented an office below a saloon in Pioneer Square — that office remains, but it’s underground.

He found that people wanted more than messages delivered, and he started a service called “Rushing the Growler.” His crew of brothers and other teenagers would deliver beer, usually to people in boarding houses. They also delivered food and meals.