You might also want to check out http://historicaerials.com 's aerial photos. In addition to 1956, they have 1948, when it was pretty much all agricultural, and 1968, when it had all been built over with suburbs.
Just noticed that my article had been posted on HN.
I am not a historian and just did this as a nostalgic reflection on what I experienced being in and around the Valley for the past 40+ years and then projected it back a decade or so to focus on what seemed a key transition year - 1956 - when Shlockley Labs was formed, HP went public, etc., to use it as a symbolic contrast between the new and the old.
It was just a fun diversion for me, the main goal being to capture a mood. Sorry about the lack of pics.
Okay, I wasn't being entirely serious. ;-) Thanks for the article - as someone who just moved here 6 months ago, it's neat to imagine what things looked like 50 years ago.
Those pics are great, though alas several of the more interesting ones are broken links.
Castro St. and the surrounding area almost seems more built-up than it is today. The landscaping (apparently done this decade) really makes a difference.
The real surprise for me was California St. That's one of the most densely populated areas today, but back then it was just trees and small houses on big lots.
The Hunt Foods factory is very close to where FriendFeed is now, I think.
Before WWII, San Jose had fewer than 100,000 people. Yet no fewer than 18 canneries and 13 packing houses could be found in the Valley. This was then the largest canning and dried fruit packing center in the world. By 1956, this farm-based culture was still largely intact. Today, it is almost entirely gone.
Seriously. I'm quite curious what Silicon Valley looked like when there was still open space between Mountain View and Palo Alto.