IBM Poughkeepsie, New York

The Poughkeepsie IBM plant is one of the company’s largest and most historically important manufacturing sites. The first part of the sprawling main plant was built in 1948, with wings added in 1952. With several more additions over the years, the plant grew to more than fifty buildings on 423 acres. A plant in nearby East Fishkill made the semiconductors and other components that IBM in Poughkeepsie assembled into computers, including the 700/7000 series, and later famous mainframes. Today though, many of the buildings are unused. Employment here is less than half of what it once was, and is now less than 3,000. IBM, one of the largest and most important early computer technology companies, emanated from upstate New York. Its still a big company, with 350,000 workers around the world, and headquartered nearby in Armonk.