Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory Site

Stop on Silicon Valley Tech Heritage Tour, a free self-guided tour.

This unmarked location at 391 San Antonio Road in Mountain View is where modern Silicon Valley's semiconductor industry was born. In 1956, Nobel laureate William Shockley, co-inventor of the transistor, established Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory here, bringing transistor technology from Bell Labs to California. Shockley assembled a team of brilliant young scientists and engineers to develop silicon-based semiconductors rather than traditional germanium. However, Shockley's difficult management style led eight key employees - nicknamed the Traitorous Eight - to leave in 1957 and found Fairchild Semiconductor with backing from Sherman Fairchild. This group included Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce, who would later co-found Intel. The Fairchild spinoff became legendary, with its alumni founding dozens of companies including Intel, AMD, and National Semiconductor. This pattern of talented engineers leaving to start new companies became the Silicon Valley model. Today, only a plaque marks the site where Shockley worked, but this location represents the beginning of the semiconductor industry that gave Silicon Valley its name. The story illustrates how even failed ventures can catalyze industry transformation when talented people are freed to pursue better ideas.