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Independence and Perpetuity
My grandfather, H. Rodney Sharp, graduated from University of Delaware in 1900. His first job was teaching public school in the Odessa Academy, a
one room school house. He boarded at the Corbit House and so began his passion for the small town which he always preferred to call by its original name: Cantwell’s Bridge.
In 1903 he moved on to a career with the DuPont Company but his fondness for the little village stayed with him. By 1938 he had become a preservationist of note and responded to an appeal for aid in the restoration of the Appoquinimink Friends Meeting House. He learned that the Corbit mansion was to be sold, and he immediately purchased it. Once a thriving grain port, the town was in great deteriora- tion! He was a scholar of historic preservation and recognized that this town was a hidden gem of early Delaware architecture and history. Little by little he bought historic buildings, always with the main focus around the Corbit House. He preserved the town as a kind of a park for the people of the region.
In 1958, my grandfather gave his treasured, Corbit house to Winterthur Museum. Additional properties acquired by him were similarly gifted by his descendants.
Winterthur Museum closed the Historic Houses
of Odessa in 2003. At that time, I served on the Winterthur Odessa Committee. It was brought to the committee’s attention that consultants reviewing Odessa’s future recommended selling the properties. I “raised my hand” in objection and the rest, as they say, is history. The Historic Odessa Foundation became a fully incorporated non-profit organization in 2005. It included the properties, my grandfather’s collections, and a small endowment. We were now independent.
Chairman’s Message
protected for our children and future generations of Delawareans. I agree!
We are in a strong position in 2018. We have community support, an able army of volunteers and hundreds of loyal members. However, Historic Odessa’s viability is tied to the cyclical ebb and flow of income from our events, exhibitions, and Cantwell’s Tavern.
We have balanced our budget every year but know that in the interest of permanent sustainability, the Foundation needs an endowment to assure its care and its future. This will ensure that the programs and activities that our community now embraces will thrive in perpetuity. That is the reason for this endowment campaign. I have made the first gift
to the endowment and I invite you to join me in preserving this gem for future generations.
.
H. Donnan Sharp
Chairperson
Historic Odessa Foundation Board of Directors
I know I could never fill my grandfather’s shoes but the beauty and historic significance of this town has now become my passion. I am certain he would be thrilled and proud of what has been accomplished here over the last 12 years. My grandfather clearly understood that Odessa’s history needed to be