Jackson’s Shirt Factory
Another Salisbury building that has been relegated to the sands of time is the old three-story Jackson shirt factory. The building has an interesting history and story behind it.
It was built in the beginning of the Twentieth Century by the Jacksons across from their mill and lumber works. The mill took up the area that is now thePeninsula Regional Medical Center. The story goes that the men at the mill were complaining that their wages were too low to raise a family. So theJacksons built the shirt factory and put their wives to work to earn more money. As the above post cards show, it had many names. First, it was the Jackson and Gutman Shirt Company. Then it became the Jackson, Gutman and Lane Shirt Company. Finally, it was the Jackson and Weisbach Shirt Company. The Jackson name was always first because they owned it. The secondary names were the managers of the shirt factory.
The shirt-making operation fell into bankruptcy, and the building remained empty for many years. The bank tried to sell it to Martin & Schwartz but they declined, and only after being offered Norman Holland’s new building on Mill Streetdid they decide to move their operation from Buffalo, NY to Salisbury. Mr. Holland had built the building as a warehouse for his concrete business, but he saw the need for Salisbury to acquire a new business. So, the shirt factory building sat empty. It was considered an economic white elephant. It was used for awhile by the McCloskey-Grant Company from Philadelphia. Then, when Lowe’s moved to Salisbury, they used it until they built a new store on the corner of Old Ocean City Road and Moss Hill Lane.
From that point on, the old shirt factory building sat empty until it was demolished a few years ago. A medical facility and parking lot now occupy the spot on the S-curve of S. Salisbury Boulevard.
Riding around Salisbury, my observation is that many old business establishments are now part of the medical industry or are some bureaucratic entity – neither of which contributes to the financial future of Salisbury.
10 comments:
It bothers me to see many old buildings getting torn down when they could have been renovated if for another use. You can say without a doubt that buildings built back then were built much better than they will be built today. Although not that old the old Bennett Middle School building will be better built than the one being built today.
George, question for you. Have you been paying attention to Jim Ireton's and Jake Day's plans for downtown Salisbury. It appears to me that they are taking the "historic" significance and ambiance away from the downtown area. What are your thoughts?
10:16-I can't speak for George,but never again will I cast a mayorial vote based on downtown revitalization promises.
10:16, my thoughts on this question is look at the successful "quaint" towns we have on Delmarva.
Berlin, St. Michaels, Easton, Oxford, Snow Hill, Princess Anne, Pocomoke, Chestertown, Onancock, Cape Charles, and many more in Delaware. They restored, if needed, the historical buildings and really got serious about the ambiance they were providing for the locals as well as the visitors.
The downtown development scheme will be a bigger boondoggle than the old mall and "Aydelotte Farm"
projects, and like them it will probably want to have a special "TIF" tax break to provided financing that they can't get otherwise.
Please enlighten me on why Princess Anne or Pocomoke are "successful quaint" towns.
Anonymous said...
10:16, my thoughts on this question is look at the successful "quaint" towns we have on Delmarva.
Berlin, St. Michaels, Easton, Oxford, Snow Hill, Princess Anne, Pocomoke, Chestertown, Onancock, Cape Charles, and many more in Delaware. They restored, if needed, the historical buildings and really got serious about the ambiance they were providing for the locals as well as the visitors.
July 12, 2014 at 12:14 PM
You are exactly right. These people thinking that remodeling downtown to anything modern is out of their mind. There is nothing successful about what they think will be. All the towns you mentioned are very successful because of their restored success.
Jim Ireton and Jake Day are out of their league and all they are doing is giving our properties away to buy a friendship or a vote. All these ideas a developers are looking for is turning a profit and capitalizing on the rental industry. I know for a fact that Jim Ireton is unloading city property like that is because he tried to sell me a certain property owned by the city for $100,000.
Jim Ireton and Jake Day are dangerous to the City of Salisbury. Their wannabe politician follower Laura Mitchell is a cancer to Wicomico County. Don't be foolish by voting for her and/or Josh Hastings. They are Hacks for the Democrat establishment.
Without patrons any revitalization project will be in vain.
Six, if not all those quaint towns have one thing in common. And that's why there are people downtown to shop and lunch for the day. And that one thing puts all the stores in the entire towns on an even playing field, so they can choose where the want to locate! There are many "quaint shop owners" whose stores just plain don't fit at the mall or strip centers. They just work better in a downtown atmosphere.
Anybody got a guess as to the One Thing?
Come on now, think...
OOOPS! Almost had it!
4:29
Lemme guess. Bike lanes and bike racks so the fashionable folks can pedal in from the suburbs and whisk back home with their downtown sourced purchases.
In our race back to the future I hope the redevelopment plan includes a livery stable! Cuz it's being foisted by a couple of horses' ......!
4:29 Most of the towns mentioned aren't majority rental properties for one thing. I don['t think any of them see the crime that Salisbury is getting accustomed to. Most have free convenient parking.
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