Historians recognize the Canal Square Building as "the birthplace of the original computer", long before it became a renowned Georgetown Washington DC restaurant. The building was originally built in 1842 to serve as a shipping warehouse for barge traffic on the bustling C&O Canal. It later served as a coopers shop, the art of crafting casks to hold such goods as flour, wine, and gunpowder. However, the Canal Square building gained its full historical status when Herman Hollerith converted the structure into a factory for manufacturing & printing punched card tabulating machines.
The building was originally built in 1842 to serve as a shipping warehouse for barge traffic on the bustling C&O Canal. It later served as a coopers shop, the art of crafting casks to hold such goods as flour, wine, and gunpowder. However, the Canal Square building gained its full historical status when Herman Hollerith converted the structure into a factory for manufacturing & printing punched card tabulating machines.