A visit to a local 'shrine'. The 'birthplace of Silicon Valley' where Hewlet-Packard started up. The site was just around the corner from where I was staying. The famous garage is down the driveway to the left of the house, which now belongs to Hewlett-Packard. It is not open to the public.

Birthplace of Silicon Valley - Palo Alto visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Birthplace of Silicon Valley' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from California.

The so-called 'Birthplace of Silicon Valley' is the garage of 369 Addison Avenue (now 367) in Palo Alto. The house was built in 1905. It was here that under the encouragement of former professor Fred Terman, Dave Packard took a leave of absence from General Motors and joined up with former classmate Bill Hewlett to set up a company. They rented 369 Addison and used the garage as a workshop in 1938. Here they developed their 200A audio oscillator and Hewlett-Packard became a partnership. The rest is history, and HP have gone on to become a world brand in High Tech.

In 1985 the garage and shed were declared Category I City landmarks by the Palo Alto Historic Resources Board. Two years later the garage at 367 Addison Avenue to be granted California State Historic Landmark status. In 2000, HP brought the property. The garage is California Historic landmark No. 976. A plaque was unveiled in 1989. It reads as follows:

Birthplace of Silicon Valley
This garage is the birthplace of the world's first high-technology region, "Silicon Valley". The idea for such a region originated with Dr. Frederick Terman, a Stanford University Professor who encouraged his students to set up their own electronics William R. Hewlett and David Packard, who in 1938 began developing their first product, an audio oscillator, in this garage.

California Registered Historical Landmark No. 976
Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with Hewlett-Packard Company, May 19, 1989.

367 Addison Avenue
Palo Alto
California