JACKSON & SHARP: RAIL CARS AND SHIPS

摘要

Jackson & Sharp Was Formed In 1863, by Job Jackson, a tinsmith, and Jacob Sharp, a carpenter. They built the Delaware Car Plant, at the end of East Seventh Street, where Brandywine Creek meets the Christina River. This grew to be the largest railcar plant in the Americas, with a capacity of 400 passenger railcars a year. In 1875, however, the market for railcars fell off sharply, so they diversified by buying the adjoining Christina River Shipyards and started to build small cargo and passenger ships. Sharp died in 1888 and, when Jackson died in 1901, American Car & Foundry leased the facilities, buying them outright in 1911. ACF had been created in 1899 from the combination of 19 separate railcar builders and had no interest in shipbuilding, but they encouraged the Wilmington operation to continue in that business.