In 1939, David Packard and William Hewlett launched Hewlett-Packard out of a 12-by-18-foot garage on a leafy street in Palo Alto, Calif. The spot is considered by some as the birthplace of Silicon Valley.
\r\nIn 2000, HP bought the Palo Alto lot, house, garage and shed for a reported $1.7 million. On Dec. 6, the tech company celebrated the completion of its effort to restore the buildings to their appearance in 1939.
\r\nThis photo shows how deconstruction of the house stood on Feb. 22.
Deconstruction of the HP garage began on Apr. 12, 2005.
The garage, designated California Historical Landmark No. 976 in 1987, needed work, according to HP. Much of the Douglas fir panels had rotted, so workers removed the decayed pieces and filled the holes with an epoxy. Fire sprinklers and steel beams were added so the garage could withstand an earthquake.
The garage and shed on Aug. 2, as work nears completion.
The fully restored garage, with an inset photo taken in 1939.
\r\n
Inside the garage are two workbenches, three stools, a couple of stacked chairs, a drill press, an HP Audio Oscillator Model 200B and other tools of the day.\r\n
More information about the restoration project can be seen on HP’s Web site.
Bill Detwiler is the Editor for Technical Content and Ecosystem at Celonis. He is the former Editor in Chief of TechRepublic and previous host of TechRepublic's Dynamic Developer podcast and Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Previously, Bill was an IT manager in the social research and energy industries. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Louisville, where he has also lectured on computer crime and crime prevention.
