Bell Labs Holmdel

Bell Labs in Holmdel, N.J., is for sale

In the summer of 1985, I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, got married, and moved 1,000 miles to start a new job with AT&T Bell Labs in New Jersey. My first visit was to a massive building located in Holmdel, NJ (I still remember spelling it "Homedel" when I mailed in my employment forms; the woman giving me the address apparently assumed the entire world knew how to spell Holmdel).

I remember the building being the most impressive building I had ever seen, and it may still be. A quarter mile long, the outside entirely dark glass. A huge water tower on the grounds, with 3 legs, signifying the three terminals of the transistor invented by Bell labs. Inside, six floors rose above an open floor. A coworker told me that when she was interviewed for her job, she was asked how the plants at the top of the interior were watered (it was a trick question; the plants were fake).

The grounds surrounding the building are huge (473 acres according to the article referenced above). When we moved to the area, I bought a county map and was shocked to see the semi-circular driveways to the building shown in the map. I remember after one major snowstorm (at least according to the locals; coming from Wisconsin I never experienced what I would call a major snowstorm in NJ) hearing that Bell Labs had lent Monmouth County their snowplows to assist in clearing roads, since the county was overwhelmed.

To me, the building in Holmdel represents a lot of things. My first post-college job. My first time living far from where I was born. Starting a new life with my bride. The pride of working for what was then the most prestigious R&D organization in the world. The friends I made, most of whom I have lost touch with.

Today, reading the above article, I learned that Holmdel building is no longer occupied, and that it is to be sold, probably to be demolished. I guess I could reflect on the decline of a world-class organization, or on how old I have become, or on how my life has changed. But more than anything it reminds me that all things in this life are transitory - a word that shares it etymology with the transistor.