Growing up in the 1980’s, I was a bit of a computer nerd, and at the time I had an intense fascination in supercomputers. I remember reading about these pieces of big iron solving the most complex problems of the day. Little did I know, at the time, the world’s fastest computers where made little more than 90 minutes away from where I lived: Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
Seymour Cray Jr, born and raised in Chippewa Falls, had an outstretched career designing some of the fastest computers in the world. First at Control Data Corporation of Bloomington, MN, and then at his own Cray Research in Chippewa Falls. The Cray was a mythical beast, found in labs like Lawerence Livermore and Los Alamos, and in place at some government three letter agencies. Cray’s legacy isn’t forgotten and you can learn more about this unique history of supercomputing at the Chippewa Falls Museum of Industry and Technology.
And that’s the subject of this week’s video: This Small Wisconsin Town Built the World’s Fastest Computers. Watch here: https://youtu.be/e4bze9gU5VY
Resources:
https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/supercomputers/10/22
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Cray
https://0x07bell.net/WWWMASTER/CrayWWWStuff/hallie.html
https://www.tptoriginals.org/how-mn-became-the-land-of-10000-top-secret-computer-projects
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/seymour-cray-dawn-of-supercomputing
Was Seymour Cray a Ham?
This is a very interesting question for me. Reading the history of Seymour Cray Jr, one would safely assume that he may have gotten his ham radio license at an early age. As a child he showed a proclivity towards morse code, wiring up keys and sounder so he and his sister could communicate. His father was a civil engineer and was said to be permissive in letting Seymour explore science and technology. And in serving during World War II, he was a radio operator and code breaker both in the European and Pacific theaters.
But in searching callbooks from the 1940’s, 50’s, and 60’s, I only found a reference to Seymour Cray of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin listed between 1947 – 1952. Callsign was W9TFM and the address resolved to what is known to be the family home in the city.
Which begs the question, was Seymour Cray Jr a ham while he was enrolled at the University of Minnesota. Those years roughly correspond to his time in college. But what I find confusing is that Minnesota is in the Zero call district and Wisconsin in the Nine. Back then rules were pretty strict about operating portable so I find it interesting that Seymour would have to identify as /0 every time he was on the air.
Maybe having the callsign is an artifact of his electrical engineering degree and after college he had no need for it, letting it lapse?
If anyone has a connection with the UM ham radio club, I’d love to peer into their archives.
We do know that Seymour did have hobbies, most of them outdoors including skiing, windsurfing, and tennis. He also enjoying tunneling, that is digging a tunnel under his home. According to an article in 1988, much of his inspiration came while working in the tunnel.
Long story short, Cray was quite elusive and often shied the public spotlight. Unraveling his personal life can be quite difficult.
Finishing Up
One last interesting Cray fact. As you enter Chippewa Falls Wisconsin from State Hwy 29, you will come upon a sign for Seymour Cray Sr Blvd. For the longest time I thought this road was named after the Cray Research namesake, but in reality it is named after his father. Seymour Cray Sr was the long time city engineer for Chippewa Falls, and the family had a fair amount of standing in the community. Cray Sr, passed away slightly before Cray Jr’s auto crash in 1996 and it was known that Cray was quite despondent over his parents recent passing. But the events of Cray’s own death isn’t tied to the passing of his parents. The industrial park where the road is located was platted in the late 1990’s and the road named such in the early 2000’s when the Highway 29 downtown bypass was completed.
This video was a bit of a departure for me, but something I wanted to do for a long time. Thanks for the indulgence. Have a Happy New Year and a prosperous 2026.
I hope to get you in the log soon
Michael
KB9VBR
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