Massachusetts Route 128 - The High-tech Region

The High-tech Region

In 1955, Business Week ran an article titled "New England Highway Upsets Old Way of Life" and referred to Route 128 as "the Magic Semicircle". By 1958, it needed to be widened from six to eight lanes, and business growth continued. In 1957, there were 99 companies employing 17,000 workers along 128; in 1965, 574; in 1973, 1,212. In the 1980s, the positive effects of this growth on the Massachusetts economy were dubbed the "Massachusetts Miracle".

Major companies with locations in the broader Route 128 area included Digital Equipment Corporation, Data General, BBN Technologies, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Analog Devices, Computervision, Microsoft, GTE, Polaroid, Sun Microsystems, BEA Systems, Turbine, Inc., EMC Corporation, Autodesk, and Raytheon.