History of the Niles-Bement-Pond Company
aka The Ridgway Machine Tool Company

By Bob Imhof

The Niles-Bement-Pond Company owned and operated seven plants and had more than 7,000 employees. These plants were well equipped for modern manufacturing and include engineering departments, drafting rooms, pattern shops & lofts, foundries, and machine shops.

This company was a consolidation of Bement, Miles & Company, Pond Machine Tool Company, Philadelphia Engine Works, Niles Tool Works, effected in 1899, and later the following companies were added, Pratt & Whitney Company, Pratt & Whitney Company of Canada, John Bertram & Sons and the Ridgway Machine Tool Company. In 1928, George A. Rentschler merged his Hooven, Owens, Rentschler Co. and NilesBement-Pond Company to form the General Machinery Corp. In a series of post-World War II mergers, GMC was transformed into Lima-Hamilton Corp. and finally BaldwinLima-Hamilton Corp. before completing relocation to Eddystone, Pa., by January 1960.

The Ridgway Machine Tool Company was established in 1893 with Harry R. Hyde as President and was noted for its manufacturing of lathes, planers, radial drills and boring mills. The official domestic business corporation paperwork was filed on January 1, 1902 and later became part of the Niles-Bement-Pond Company. The Ridgway Machine Tool Company was located on Front Street near the Pennsylvania Railroad and the site of Byron Ely’s sawmill on Elk Creek and later became the site of the Ridgway Color and Chemical (Ink Plant).