Western File Co., Great Western File Co.

Western File Company of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania was founded in 1869 and made a limited company in 1873. In 1878 it registered the following trademarks with the US Patent Office: Economy Works with Cast Steel Files, Western File Works, Beaver File Works, Western Files, and Economy Works with Superior Files. Western File Company's 1883 catalog is on Archive.org.

When Nicholson File Co. took control in 1895, it formed a subsidiary, Great Western File Co., capitalized at $400,000, and operated it as the Great Western branch of the Nicholson File Co. Operations continued in Beaver Falls until 1904, when Great Western's production was moved to the former Arcade plant in Anderson, Indiana.

Thank you to a reader, Vance, for photo

The following history is from History of Beaver County Pennsylvania and its Centennial Celebration, by Rev. Joseph H. Bausman, 1904:

The works of the Great Western File Company, Limited, were built in 1869 by David Blake and James M. Fessenden. Four years later the capacity was doubled. In 1875 the firm was changed to a limited company, with James M. Fessenden, chairman; E. L. Blake, secretary; and F. F. Foshay, treasurer. On the 19th of April, 1880, the entire works were destroyed by fire, with an almost total loss, but in eighteen weeks they were rebuilt on a much larger scale and were again in active operation. In 1883 Hon. Henry Hice became chairman, and George W. Morrison, secretary and treasurer. In 1899 the Great Western File Works was absorbed by the present company, under the style of the Nicholson File Works. 

Hardware, 10 Sept. 1895

Hardware, 25 Sep. 1895

Iron Age, 1896