NOW: Redmond’s brick landmark that began as its mayor’s auto repair garage has been used through its first ninety-five years variously as a furniture store, a sports store, and more recently a liquor store. In his 1998 historylink history of this now ‘high technology town,’ historian Alan J. Stein concludes, “Chances are, if you own or use a computer anywhere in the world, you’ve heard of Redmond.” Microsoft began developing its Redmond campus in 1985.