H. Rodney Sharp (1880-1968), newly graduated from Delaware College (now the University of Delaware), came to Odessa in 1900 to teach at the Academy, a three room brick schoolhouse on Main Street at the corner of Third Street. He first roomed at the 1822 hotel-tavern, now Cantwells Tavern, and later had rooms in a private home. He became friends with Daniel Wheeler Corbit and often visited his mansion, a National Historic Landmark. Though Mr. Sharp left Odessa in 1903 to work for E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, his appreciation for the town of Odessa prompted his restoration of many of its historic houses, and his interest in education continued throughout his life.
