Corbit-Sharp House

The Corbit-Sharp House c. 1774, a National Historic Landmark, is a handsome example of the Philadelphia-Georgian style. Due to a recorded encounter at the Corbit-Sharp House between a fugitive slave named Sam and Daniel Corbit, an agent of the Underground Railroad, the Corbit-Sharp House is designated as part of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway and the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom of the National Park Service.

Builder William Corbit, the town's leading citizen, operated a tannery on the Appoquinimink Creek. This house remained in the Corbit family until 1938, when H. Rodney Sharp acquired it. Sharp restored the house as well as several other historically significant buildings in the town and is generally considered responsible for the first efforts at historic preservation in Odessa.

Delaware history: the Corbit-Sharp House

Today the Corbit-Sharp House is furnished according to an 1818 inventory of household furnishings and reflects the region’s lifestyle in the late 18th century.