Simonds' first foray beyond the confines of Fitchburg came with the opening of the Chicago Branch House in 1880. This branch was headed by Edwin F. Simonds, one of Abel's sons who moved to Chicago from Fitchburg to start the new venture. The idea behind the branch house was to offer local sales and service for all Simonds products, and the Chicago location was such a success that it moved twice in 8 years to larger facilities.
Based on the success of the Chicago venture, a second Branch House was opened in 1886 in San Francisco, under the leadership of John Simonds. John was another of Abel's sons and up to this point had served as Treasurer of the company in Fitchburg. The San Francisco branch leased space in a building at 31 Main Street, eventually taking over the first and third floors for sales, warehousing, saw repair and light manufacturing.
On Wednesday, April 18, 1906, tragedy befell San Francisco - this was the date of the Great Earthquake, which was followed by devastating fires. The first shock of the earthquake hit at about 5:10 in the morning, with the main tremor occurring about a half minute after, followed by more shocks. The quake itself lasted about a minute, and was felt all the way from southern Oregon to Los Angeles and inland as far as central Nevada. The fires started shortly afterward, and by late afternoon the area of Main Street where the Simonds branch was located was consumed by flames.
As were most Americans, Fitchburg residents were eager for any news on the quake. At the time, both Edwin F. Simonds (from Chicago) and Gifford K. Simonds (from Fitchburg) were visiting the San Francisco branch, so tensions were heightened within the Simonds offices. News didn't travel as fast back then as it does today, but by Saturday, Edwin Simonds was able to wire word back that the building and all the stock were destroyed by the fire, but that all Simonds employees were accounted for, safe and sound. And that was a good outcome for such a disaster.
Simonds reopened in temporary quarters almost immediately and had a new branch built and moved into on Natoma Street by mid 1907. Our presence in San Francisco ran along strong until this branch was finally merged into the Los Angeles branch in the early 1970's.