On December 20th, 1930, the cornerstone for our Intervale Road factory in Fitchburg was laid as part of a large ceremony attended by 500 people, including many local and Massachusetts dignitaries. The stone was laid by Thomas Howarth, a vice president of the company. Howarth had started with Simonds on December 20th, 1880, shortly after graduating from Fitchburg High School and held a variety of positions within the company. The ceremony coincided with his 50th anniversary with the company. The cornerstone itself contained a time capsule of sorts, including the 75th anniversary book and a genealogy of the Simonds family, as well as copies of the day's speeches and other memorabilia.
The land for this trend-setting new facility, the world's first windowless factory, was purchased the previous August from the Boston & Maine Railroad. The site consisted of 54 acres of land in South Fitchburg, across the Nashua River from the Simonds file factory. The plans called for consolidating the two Fitchburg plants (saws and files) as well as the Chicago plant into this modern new factory.
Construction started shortly after the cornerstone laying ceremony and was completed by the end of June, 1931. The plant featured controlled lighting, temperature, humidity, noise, dust and smoke, all on one level. It was designed so that it could be enlarged from any of the four sides. Production flowed from the point of raw materials receiving in the back of the building to the finished goods stock area in the front of the building. The floors were of wood block construction to prevent damage to tooth tips of product that might be rolled from station to station. Construction of this unique plant was covered in magazines such as Time, Fortune and Popular Mechanics. And it remains our main plant today!
