The HP Garage is a private museum where the company

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

(HP) was founded. It is located at 367 Addison Avenue in Palo Alto, California. It is considered to be the "Birthplace of Silicon Valley". In the 1930s,

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and its Dean of Engineering

Frederick Terman Frederick Emmons Terman (; June 7, 1900 – December 19, 1982) was an American professor and academic administrator. He was the dean of the school of engineering from 1944 to 1958 and provost from 1955 to 1965 at Stanford University. He is widely ...

began encouraging faculty and graduates to stay in the area instead of leaving California, and develop a high-tech region. HP founders Bill Hewlett and David Packard are considered the first Stanford students who took Terman's advice. The garage has since been designated a California Historical Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Though not open for public tours, the property can be viewed from the sidewalk and driveway.

History

The home, originally designated as 367 Addison Avenue, was first occupied in 1905 by Dr. John Spencer, his wife Ione, and their two adult daughters. Dr. Spencer became Palo Alto's first mayor in 1909. In 1918, the house was divided into two separate apartments, numbered 367 and 369. In 1937, David "Dave" Packard, then 25 years old, visited William "Bill" Hewlett in Palo Alto and the pair had their first business meeting. Both men attended

, where its Dean of Engineering

encouraged his students to establish their own electronics companies in the area instead of leaving California. In 1938, newly married Dave and Lucile Packard moved into 367 Addison Ave, the first-floor three-room apartment, with Bill Hewlett sleeping in the shed. Mrs. Spencer, now widowed, moved into the second-floor apartment, 369 Addison. Hewlett and Packard began to use the one-car garage, with $538 () in capital. In 1939, Packard and Hewlett formed their partnership with a coin toss, creating the name Hewlett-Packard. Hewlett-Packard's first product, built in the garage, was an audio oscillator, the HP200A. One of Hewlett-Packard's first customers was Walt Disney Studios, which purchased eight oscillators to test and certify the sound systems in theaters that were going to run the first major film released in

stereophonic sound Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

, ''

Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

''.

Historical designations

* California registered landmark, 1987 * National Register of Historic Places, 2007

References

External links

Rebuilding HP's Garage
{{National Register of Historic Places Hewlett-Packard History of Silicon Valley Buildings and structures in Palo Alto, California Tourist attractions in Santa Clara County, California Houses in Santa Clara County, California National Register of Historic Places in Santa Clara County, California Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in California