Need assistance on dating print plate

[mjc_lakedweller]

Found this at an old business site. I'm not sure if it was once a printing facility or not still researching. It is a lead base with copper plate. I believe the EST stands for establishment but that is about as much as I could obtain via google. Any help would be appreciated...

 

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[DCMatt]

The OP is correct. It stands for Establishment.

USDA has lists of establishment numbers where it does inspections. I could only find a modern list and all the numbers on it start with or include an alpha character. Also, most of them were longer (5 or 6 digits).

Is there any kind of meat processing in the area where this was found?

DCMatt

 

[mjc_lakedweller]

I think you and I saw the same thing. Only thing I could come up with was lists that included P (poultry), M (meat) etc... This however only has 3 numbers. I did find on google that usda est 199 was issued in 1891. So if usda gave numbers out in chronological order ... might be early to mid 1890s?

 

[doublet2a]

Couldn't help my self