Object Details
Scope and Contents
This collection contains order books, including design details of a wide variety of passenger, freight and specialty cars (including self-propelled electric cars), and cost accounts for the production department. Also included are 21 volumes of photographs of finished cars, arranged by lot number. These have separate indexes arranged alphabetically and by photograph number.
sova.nmah.ac.0156
Creator
American Car and Foundry Co. (Jackson & Sharp Car Co.)
Jackson & Sharp Car Co.
Former owner
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Transportation
Place
Delaware
Topic
Railroads -- Cars
Provenance
Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
Creator
American Car and Foundry Co. (Jackson & Sharp Car Co.)
Jackson & Sharp Car Co.
See more items in
Jackson & Sharp Car Company Records and American Car & Foundry Company Collection
Biographical / Historical
The Jackson and Sharp Car Company, a manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, street railway cars, and ships, was incorporated in Delaware on February 24, 1869, as the successor to the partnership of Jackson & Sharp. Job H. Jackson (1833 1901), a tinsmith and mechanic, and Jacob F. Sharp (ca. 1815 1888), an experienced car builder, opened a small car building shop in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1863. Wilmington was a major center for the manufacture of railroad passenger cars prior to the development of Pullman, Illinois, in 1881. Sharp retired from the business in 1870. Soon after, Jackson erected the larger Delaware Car Works facility at the foot of 8th Street. A shipyard was added in 1875. By the late 1880s, the company was turning out about 400 cars per year, as well as sash work and panelling for buildings.
The American Car & Foundry Company purchased Jackson and Sharp in 1901 when Jackson died. American Car & Foundry, incorporated in New Jersey in 1899, was a typical late 19th century merger of many small car building companies. The Jackson and Sharp plant in Wilmington was used primarily for the construction of railroad cars for export orders until around 1920. From the end of World War One until 1938, the plant was kept open by building small pleasure boats. During World War Two the plant produced minesweepers. The plant was closed around 1945.
Extent
2.5 Cubic feet (6 boxes, 21 volumes)
Date
1884-1948
Custodial History
Collection transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Transportation (now Division of Work and Industry) in 1979.
Archival Repository
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier
NMAH.AC.0156
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Cost account books
Albumen prints
Account books
Photographs
Order books
Lists
Citation
Jackson and Sharp Car Co. Records and American Car and Foundry Co. Collection, 1884-1948, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Arrangement
The collection is divided into two series.
Series 1: Records, 1885-1948
Series 2: Photographs
Processing Information
Collection processed by Robert Harding, 1984
Rights
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Existence and Location of Copies
Digitized images are avilable through the Delaware Public Archives Delaware Collections, a living online repository of materials that features documents, artwork, maps, newspapers, slides, photos, audio/video, and other important items documenting Delaware's rich history and culture. More items are added daily from institutions throughout the state.
Bibliography
Hagley Museum and Library. Finding aids for collection.
Hoffecker, Carol. Wilmington, Delaware Portrait of An Industrial City 1830 1910. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1974.
White, John. "Railroad Car Builders of the United States." Railroad History, 138 (Spring, 1978).
Genre/Form
Cost account books
Albumen prints
Account books
Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver albumen -- 1850-1900
Order books
Lists -- Photographs
Restrictions
Collection is open for research. Special care required in handling photographs, as the bound volumes are in poor condition.
NMAH.AC.0156
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8ad53cae7-a70b-4aae-8c58-17f19febaa32
NMAH.AC.0156
ACAH
Record ID
ebl-1503513392932-1503513392936-0
