Conference 7.286::digital

	You may have better luck asking in the Massachusetts conference.

Massachusetts			CARTUN::MASSACHUSETTS			 1114

			Alfred

    I believe that Digital has a Museum/historical collection located in
    MR04.  Try there.

    I know of 11 different facilities in Marlboro, all DEC.
    
    These facilities have at least 1 building each or sometimes more.
    Not sure of exact buildings for each facility.
    
    Hope this helps.
    

        If you want to know why Digital brought its computer business
        to Marlboro, you must first find out why RCA wanted to bring
        its computer business to Marlboro.

        Bob

� I would just like to know why Digital came to Marlboro. 

    The decision to setup offices in a particular town is
    based on quite complicated analysis involving factors
    such as,
       �  towns tax structure, policies, history, stability,
          conveniences provided by/in town, etc.
       �  as usual when buying real estate location, value
          appreciation rate, accessibility, etc.
       �  in DIGITALs case probably also because of proximity
          to Maynard.
       �  now a days relocation costs are also an important
          issue.
    
� How many Digital buildings are in Marlboro. 

    If you go by the number of entries with (Marlboro) listed
    in the phone book they show twenty one sites.  
    
� Also any thing else you know that could be of help to me.  
    
    I bet Marlboro town library might be able to help, and
    may be LDPSCI::DEC_HISTORY conference might have some 
    people who may have actually been part of the decision 
    making if you are lucky.

re:  Why Marlboro?

I believe the answer is very simple.  Back in '73 or so:

1.  Digital needed room for expansion.

2.  RCA was selling a bunch of buildings and land at fire-sale prices.
    (The number I remember hearing was 10� on the dollar, but I'm not sure 
     I believed it then.)

The other factors mentioned (close by Maynard, no relocation, etc.) were 
also certainly considerations.

Come to think of it, I remember this same set of circumstances being 
responsible for Stow, also.

Ray 

  The main office of the DEC Historical Collection is at MRO2, not MRO4. The
person in charge is Jamie Pearson. She is also the moderator of the DEC_HISTORY
notesfile. I have read most of this file and I don't recall seeing anything 
about the question at hand, but it would be a good place to ask for info, as
would be the Massachusetts notesfile.
  I might be able to help a little with the shoe industry question, if you can't
get enough info at the city library.
  Here's what I know about the computer industry: RCA's plant opened around 
1968 and was the first large high-tech facility in town. I don't know why RCA
chose Marlboro. There were a few RCA plants in Mass. at the time but most of
RCA's facilities were in N.J. Some factors were that Marlboro had just been made
accessible by I-495 (I-290 was on the horizon), there was a large labor force
(partly due to the decline in the shoe industry), and there was plenty of in-
dustrial land available. As -.1 said, DEC chose to move to Marlboro because it
was close to Maynard, they got the site for a song, and the facility had been
built for the same purpose (computer mfg) that DEC planned to use it for. DEC
built more plants in Marlboro because it was close to Maynard and to other DEC
plants, it had good highway access, and there was still plenty of industrial
land available. 
  You might get more info on RCA and the other non-DEC computer companies (such
as Stratus) at the Computer Museum in Boston.

>I am a Marlboro High School student entered in an American Express Geography 
>contest.  The basic idea of my topic is:  Why did the shoe and computer in-
>dustries come to Marlboro?  What people (immigrants) came to Marlboro in order 
>to work for these companies.  I am using Digital as one of my companies.  

Maybe I'm just perverse, but I get this strange image when I read this, of
the tired, the poor, walking out of Ellis Island carrying their worldy
possessions in a knapsack, hopping on a bus for Marlboro (bit of a ride,
since Ellis Island is in New York), stopping off at DEC, and staying to
design the 8600.

> Maybe I'm just perverse, but I get this strange image when I read this, of
> the tired, the poor, walking out of Ellis Island carrying their worldy
> possessions in a knapsack, hopping on a bus for Marlboro (bit of a ride,
> since Ellis Island is in New York), stopping off at DEC, and staying to
> design the 8600.

Not too far from the truth, Paul.  In the early 1900's you could literally
ride street cars from New York City to Marlboro.  Read Doctorow's Ragtime
for a fictionalized description.

You might want to visit the national park in Lowell -- they might have
information on how industrial/immigrant Massachusetts started.  I suspect
that university libraries would be the next stop.

For that matter, why not visit some of the local old folk's homes (the
Swedish one in Newton comes to mind) and ask some of the people who actually
worked there how/why they came here?

Good luck.  You will keep us informed?

Martin.

    Also Marlboro has a historical society on Elm st. in Marlboro. Its
    right near the LMO plants, just the other side of 495. I'm sure
    they could give you all sorts of poop.
    
       377 Elm St.
    
       (508) 485-4763
    
           jeff

 Re travel from New York to Marlboro 80 years ago: They probably took the train.
Marlboro had rail passenger service then. Actually 2 railroads and 2 stations.
  I agree that contacting the Marlboro Historical Society is an excellent idea.
I know that house well; Honeywell owns it and the Honeywell plant dominates the
skyline. But if you can mentally block out the plant and parking lot, it's a
beautifully restored house.