In December of 1905, Simonds entered the file and rasp market with the purchase of The Fitchburg File Works, for $90,000. The new acquisition was immediately renamed The Simonds File Company, and the Red Tang file trademark was born!
The Fitchburg File Works made hand files and rasps, as well as hack saw blades and hack saws. Both product lines would turn out to be very successful extensions of the Simonds offering. In fact, sales grew so rapidly that major factory expansions were completed in 1906 (a 100' x 35' addition), 1912, 1916 (a doubling in size of the hack saw department), 1917 and 1923 (a new building is added) at the Falulah Road (now Airport Road) site in South Fitchburg.
The Fitchburg File Works was founded by Eli Culley in 1864 in North Weymouth, Massachusetts as the Culley File Company. Eli Cully had emigrated from England to the United States in 1855. He fought in the Civil War, returning home wounded in 1864. After recovering from his war wounds, he started this new file-making company.
The Culley File Company moved to Fitchburg in 1868 in order to be closer to rail transportation. The first location was on Water Street, but the company soon moved to a larger facility on Newton Lane. By 1892, Eli Culley's sons Walter and Albert were running the company. They needed more space and moved once again, to Lunenburg Street. At this time the business was renamed The Fitchburg File Works. Finally in 1904, Walter and Albert Culley built a new factory building on Falulah Street - across the Nashua River from what would eventually be the site of the Simonds windowless factory on Intervale Road.
In the late 1870's, Eli Culley became very interested in local politics. In 1880, he ran for and was elected the sixth Mayor of Fitchburg. After serving as mayor, he served on the Common Council and the Board of Aldermen, until his death in 1890. His sons, Walter and Albert Culley, along with their brother Frank, remained key managers with Simonds until their deaths.
The Red Tang file to this day is one of the most recognizable trademarks in the industry, and it is yet another testament to the quality and innovation of Fitchburg's oldest industrial concern - Simonds.
