The Electric Vehicle division was spun off that year as the independent company Columbia Automobile Company but it was acquired by the Electric Vehicle Company by the end of the year. Pope tried to re-enter the automobile manufacturing market in 1901 by acquiring a number of small firms, but the process was expensive and competition in the industry was heating up. Between the years 1903 and 1915, the company operated a number of automobile companies including Pope-Hartford (19031914), Pope-Robinson, Pope-Toledo (19031909), Pope-Tribune (19041907) and Pope-Waverly. Pope declared bankruptcy in 1907 and abandoned the automobile industry in 1915. Pope is credited with being the first auto manufacturer to use mass production practices. In 1900 Pope's [Hartford] factories produced more motor vehicles than any other factory in the world. Death He died on August 10, 1909. He is buried in the Forest Hills Cemetery and Crematory in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Legacy Following his death, some companies joined the United States Motor Company. Pope's empire collapsed in 1913. He founded Pope Park, Hartford, Connecticut and donated it to the City. Pope companies Pope Manufacturing Company American Bicycle Company References Bibliography External links First chapter of Colonel Albert Pope and his American dream machines. Outline history of the bicycle in the United States. Columbia Bikes Incorporated. Find-a-Grave 1843 births 1909 deaths Union Army officers American manufacturing businesspeople American male cyclists American magazine publishers (people) Businesspeople from Boston Cycling advocates Burials at Forest Hills Cemetery (Boston) History of cycling History of cycling in the United States History of cycling in Massachusetts 19th-century American businesspeople Cyclists from Massachusetts