Palo Alto, CA

Palo Alto on When It Was is 6 addresses and the 6 businesses that have occupied them, the oldest from 1909. 3 are still open today; 3 are gone, and 1 of the buildings themselves have been demolished. Every entry below opens a page with the full history of that address, and the map lets you slide the year and watch the city change.

Start here

Palo Alto, decade by decade

• 1900s
  1 opened — Federal Telegraph Company LaboratorySee the map in 1905 →
• 1930s
  1 opened — HP Garage - Birthplace of Silicon ValleySee the map in 1935 →
• 1950s
  2 opened — Varian Associates Building 1, Fairchild Semiconductor CorporationSee the map in 1955 →
• 1960s
  1 opened — 165 University Avenue - The Lucky BuildingSee the map in 1965 →
• 1970s
  1 opened — Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center)See the map in 1975 →

Still here, and gone

By kind of place

Research Laboratory (2)

Federal Telegraph Company Laboratory · Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center)

Historic Tech Birthplace (2)

Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation · HP Garage - Birthplace of Silicon Valley

Research & Manufacturing (1)

Varian Associates Building 1

Office Building / Startup Incubator (1)

165 University Avenue - The Lucky Building

Every place in Palo Alto (6)

• 165 University Avenue - The Lucky Building 165 University Avenue · 1963–present
• Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation 844 East Charleston Road · 1957–1979
• Federal Telegraph Company Laboratory 913 Emerson Street · 1909–1913
• HP Garage - Birthplace of Silicon Valley 367 Addison Avenue · 1939–1940
• Varian Associates Building 1 611 Hansen Way · 1953–present
• Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) 3333 Coyote Hill Road · 1970–present