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Birthplace of the World's First Business Computer - The Norwalk Hour* Remington Rand's First Computer - A Short History by W.B.Wenning Birthplace - Notes Specific to Development in Rowayton Birthplace - A Time Line by W.B.Wenning and Eric Rambusch The Computer Age Began in a Barn - The New York Times, March 29, 1998 Computer Pioneers - The Darien News-Review,* April 9, 1998 Computer Pioneers - The Norwalk Weekly Life & Times, April 2, 1998* Memories of Electronic Dawn - The Norwalk Hour* The History of Computing *Slight editing applied to correct errors of fact

Computer Pioneers to Meet
in Rowayton on Sunday

The Norwalk Weekly Life & Times
Thursday, April 2, 1998

Copyright ©1998 The Hour Newspapers
Reprinted by Permission

Ten of the engineers who designed and built the first business computer will gather Sunday, April 5 at the site of their work, now the Rowayton Community Center, to commemorate their pioneering efforts.

The event, which begins at 2 p.m., is sponsored by the Rowayton Historical Society.

The history of this innovative team can be traced to 1943, when Loring P. Crosman approached James Rand, chairman and president of Remington Rand, with a plan to build an electronic computer. At the time Remington Rand was known in the business world for its 90-column punch and tabulating equipment.

At the time, Rand was buying the Rockledge estate in Rowayton for his company's headquarters. Today the building houses the eastern headquarters of Hewitt Associates. Rand also began constructing a laboratory for product development in South Norwalk, which later housed Norwalk Community College.

In 1948 Crosman's group moved to the Rockledge carriage house at 33 Highland Ave., affectionately known as "The Barn" to those who worked there. Today, it's Rowayton's community center and public library.

The following year, Remington Rand engineers came out with their first business computer, the Model 409, designed to perform repetitive functions such as calculating payroll. It was about the size of a refrigerator and was manufactured with modular components for ease of maintenance.

The company began demonstrating the Model 409 in the spring of 1950. The next year the staff tripled and eventually moved to the newly built Butler building behind the South Norwalk lab.

After the Model 409, the team at "The Barn" went on to produce the Univac 60, 120 and 1004 models. The 1004 was the most commercially successful punch card computer in the history of the Remington, Univac and Unisys companies.

The public is invited to the event. Information is available at the Rowayton Web site at http://www.rowayton.org/rhs