Jackson and Sharp Company was an American railroad car manufacturer and

shipbuilder Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company was founded in 1863 by Job H. Jackson (b. 1833), a

tinsmith A tinsmith is a person who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession may sometimes also be known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profession, though the same w ...

and retail merchant, and Jacob F. Sharp (b. 1815), a carpenter who had worked for rail car manufacturers and shipbuilders.Delaware Public Archives. Dover, DE (2009)
"A Brief History of the Jackson & Sharp Company, Car and Ship Builders, 1863-1950."
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Rolling stock plant

Jackson and Sharp built a fabrication plant, called the Delaware Car Works, in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

near the mouth of Brandywine Creek. In the early years the facility had storage capacity for 6 cars and about 100 employees. By 1880 the plant produced 400

passenger cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

per year. Through facility expansions on the site, the capacity grew to 75 cars, with about 1,000 employees in the late 1880s. At that time it was considered to be the largest

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can ...

plant in the Americas. Clients included

Great Western Railroad (Illinois) The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary con ...

South Side Elevated Railroad The South Side Elevated Railroad (originally Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad) was the first elevated rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois. The line ran from downtown Chicago to Jackson Park, with branches to Englewood, Normal Pa ...

(Chicago), Denver and Rio Grande Railway, King Oscar II of Sweden, and Emperor Dom Pedro of Brazil. It supplied the passenger cars for the

Waterloo & City Railway The Waterloo & City line, colloquially known as The Drain, is a London Underground shuttle line that runs between Waterloo and Bank with no intermediate stops. Its primary traffic consists of commuters from south-west London, Surrey and Hamps ...

in London, England, in 1897-8.John C Gillham, ''The Waterloo & City Railway'', The Oakwood Press, Usk, United Kingdom, 2001, Jackson & Sharp bogie

Shipyard

The company purchased the Christina River Shipyards in 1875. The facility built wooden vessels such as schooners and barges, as well as steam-powered vessels. By 1900 the rolling stock and shipyard facilities totalled , with 1,200 to 1,500 employees.

Merger and 20th century operations

American Car and Foundry ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of motor coaches and trolley coaches und ...

(ACF) leased the Jackson and Sharp facilities for 10 years, beginning in 1901. Accessed 2013-01-13. In 1911 ACF purchased the plant and focused on manufacturing passenger cars for

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

, although shipbuilding continued as well. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the plant built wooden submarine chasers, rail cars and

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

equipment to support the war effort. After the war, the shipyard continued to build

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

s, but wooden shipbuilding ended in 1938. Rail car production also ended in the 1930s. The plant then focused on steel shipbuilding, and built small craft for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After the war, limited rail car production was resumed. Owing to a small number of orders, ACF stopped production in 1950, and sold the plant to a warehouse company in 1952.

Products

Rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can ...

- standard gauge and

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

Passenger car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

s **

Freight car A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a ...

s ** Baggage-

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...

-passenger cars ** Dining cars ** Parlor cars and private cars ** Sleeping cars **

Streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

s *

Watercraft Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by sail, ...

- wood and steel ** Schooners **

Barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s **

Carfloat A railroad car float or rail barge is a specialised form of lighter with railway tracks mounted on its deck used to move rolling stock across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go. An unpowered barge, it is towed by a tugb ...

s **

Ferryboat A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

s **

Tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

s **

Yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

s **

- small craft * Woodwork ** Architectural

millwork Millwork is historically any wood mill produced decorative materials used in building construction. Stock profiled and patterned millwork building components fabricated by milling at a planing mill can usually be installed with minimal alter ...

for buildings ** Cabinets

References

External links

Photos of Jackson & Sharp plant, rolling stock, ships & other products
- Delaware State Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson and Sharp Company Defunct rolling stock manufacturers of the United States American Car and Foundry Company Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States Companies based in Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington Riverfront Manufacturing companies established in 1863 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1911 1863 establishments in Delaware American companies established in 1863 1911 disestablishments in Delaware 1911 mergers and acquisitions Defunct manufacturing companies based in Delaware