I just photographed what appears to be an inconspicuous garage in Palo Alto but, is in fact regarded as the ‘birthplace’ of Silicon Valley. For it is here, that the company Hewlett-Packard (HP) was invented.
The garage sits in the garden at 367 Addison Avenue. It was built in 1905 and was originally occupied by Palo Alto’s first mayor Dr John Spence, his wife Ione and their two daughters in 1909. It was then divided into two separate apartments (numbers 367 and 369) in 1918.
During this time, William “Bill” Hewlett and David “Dave” Packard both attended nearby Stanford University and in 1937 had their first business meeting. The then Dean of Engineering Frederick Terman encouraged them to establish an electronics company in the local area rather than leaving California.
Therefore, in 1938 Dave Packard moved into the first-floor three room apartment a 337 Addison Avenue with his newlywed Lucille with Bill Hewlett sleeping in the shed. A now widowed, Mrs Spencer moved into the second floor apartment.
Dave and Bill formed a partnership and began using the one-car garage with jus $538 in start up capital and in 1939 flipped a coin to decide whose name would precede the other for the company. Thus, Hewlett, Packard was born.
The company’s first product which you can still see a replica of today was an audio oscillator, known as the HP200. Interestingly, one of their first customers was the Walt Disney Company who purchased eight of these oscillators to test the sound systems in theaters running the iconic film Fantasia. This was the first major movie to be shown in stereophonic sound.
The garage and house have been replicated to show exactly how they looked at the time when Bill and Dave worked there and although closed to the public you can view it from the sidewalk. Tours are also available which I would highly recommend to technology and history buffs.
Having the garage all to myself to photograph is one of those unique experiences that I am often fortunate and privileged to have as a photographer!
