Early HP Locations
updated Sept 2, 2007


The following pictures were taken during my trip to Palo Alto in early June, 2007.  All of these are along Page Mill Road which runs Northeast.  These buildings are on the northern end of Page Mill Road before the name changes to Oregon Expressway which connects to Highway 101 by the San Francisco Bay about two miles up the road.  The HP buildings of today are about one-half to one mile south on Page Mill Road.



This was once the Polly and Jake Cabinet Shop building. HP rented space in the back part of the building in 1940 and soon occupied most of the building.  At one time the front of the building had the sign, Hewlett-Packard Co., a little above where the present sign is today.  The double doors in the middle have been replaced with a window and the entrance is now on the side. 


You can still see the original cinder block side of the building.


Another picture of the front.


A picture of the front and of the side entrance.


A view of the side and rear of the building.


The side of the building and looking down the sidewalk on Page Mill Road.  The Redwood building used to be about one block down the street on the right.


A view looking the other way up the side walk.  You can see where the front entrance used to be in the middle.


The unfinished cinder block side of the building.


This view gives a perspective of the location of the building relative to the intersection of El Camino Real at the right edge of the picture.


This view is looking from the intersection of El Camino Real and Page Mill Road.


A perspective of Page Mill Road.


The first building HP built was located where the parking lot is in this picture.  This was the Redwood Building located at 395 Page Mill Road at the corner of Ash Street (on the right) and was built in 1942.  It was torn down for the construction of the new Agilent Technologies headquarters (building on the left) after the spin-off from HP. 


Here is another view with the former Agilent headquarters building in the background.  The Agilent headquarters has since moved to Santa Clara and this building was sold and was unoccupied when I took these pictures in June of 2007.  The Agilent signs had not yet been taken down.


This was the main entrance off of Page Mill Road.


This is a different view of the parking lot where the Redwood building once stood.  The picture is taken from the other side of the main entrance.


Another view of the parking lot where the Redwood building once stood.



When the Redwood building was torn down, retired HPer Gene Douchette salvaged some of the redwood siding and made replicas of the garage.  I am very fortunate and proud to own one of these.  It sits in my shop with all my vintage HP equipment -- some of the equipment was made in the redwood building -- an interesting convergence.



This picture was taken at the corner of El Camino Real and Page Mill Road and looking northeast.  The building with the yellow sign on the side is the original Polly and Jake Cabinet Shop.  The Redwood building was about another block down on the right.


This view is looking the other way down Page Mill Road from the intersection at El Camino Real.  The road is actually flat -- the picture angle makes it look down hill.  The top of the distant hill on the road is where the 1957 HP headquarters are located on the left.  The new headquarters are located to the left of the second traffic light (hard to see) at the bottom of the hill.