CompuServe's world headquarters stood on the six-acre site at 5000 Arlington Centre Boulevard from 1973 to 2009. Incorporated in 1969, Compu-Serve Corporation, later CompuServe Inc., was the first major online information services provider. Its subscribers were the first to have access to email, online newspapers and magazines, the ability to share and download files, and a variety of popular chat forums. One especially successful CompuServe innovation was the GIF graphics format. Increasing competition and a succession of corporate owners pressed CompuServe into the fate of many tech start-ups, and it ran its course. It did, however, introduce millions of people to online connectivity and social networking, and laid the foundation for the widespread use of the internet.
