Columbian Rope Company Collection
Auburn has hosted various manufacturing industries throughout its history, including the Columbian Rope Co. which was founded in 1903 by Colonel Edwin Dickinson Metcalf. Metcalf, as president of the farm machinery manufacturer D.M. Osborne, had earlier established the Columbia Cordage Company, to manufacture baling twine for Osborne Works. In 1902 both Osborne Works and the Cordage Company were sold to International Harvester; subsequently Metcalf founded the Columbian Rope Company. Throughout the 20th century CRC grew to become one of the largest and most productive cordage manufacturers in the U.S., and it became a major economic driver for Auburn and for the surrounding area. Facing stiff international competition and market pressures in the 1970s, in 1982 the company moved from Auburn to Guntown, Mississippi; finally in 2002, the company was sold to Unicord International.
The Museum holds publications, advertisements and promotional cards, programs, and three-dimensional objects from the Columbian Rope Co. You can download a PDF Finding Aid from the Cayuga Museum to view a comprehensive inventory of the entire Columbian Rope Company collection.
Download Cayuga Museum Finding Aid
Columbian Rope Company Truck
Black and white photograph of large tractor trailer with Columbian Rope logo parked outside the Columbian Rope factory at 309 Genesee Street Auburn NY. Two men stand next to the truck, one in white shirt and dark pants, one in a light colored suit. The man in the suit is Joe Phillips, traffic manager at Columbian Rope Several more men stand on the loading dock behind the truck with large wooden spools of rope.
Columbian Rope Company aerial view
Glass plate negative showing an aerial view of the Columbian Rope Company buildings on Genesee Street.
Manila rope
manufactured by the Columbian Rope Co.
The Columbian Crew, March-April 1957
Published by the Columbian Rope Co. at Auburn ‘The Cordage City’ New York
Commemorative souvenir
This souvenir contains a small piece of rope encased in an acrylic plaque. Inscription reads “A piece of the actual line used aboard ‘Intrepid’ during her successful defense of the America’s Cup, 1967. This rope was manufactured by the Columbian Rope Company.”
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