As a stately mansion in rural Odessa, Delaware, the Corbit-Sharp House would already stand out from its immediate surroundings. However, this historic house hides a secret: a cubbyhole on its third floor that was a stop on the Underground Railroad and once led a man to his freedom on one dramatic evening.
This house is widely considered to be the finest example of late Georgian architecture in the state of Delaware. It was built between 1772 and 1774 by William Corbit, a wealthy young tanner who lived and worked in Odessa, which was then called Cantwell’s Bridge. Designed in the style of the great houses of nearby Philadelphia, this elegant house is a destination for fans of historic architecture and the decorative arts. The house was unusually well-preserved and inventoried, and it contains many of the original furnishings built for William Corbit, including several pieces by John Janvier, who was known as Delaware’s premier cabinetmaker.
However, for one moment in history, the house was better known for that which could not be seen from the street. Before the Civil War, Delaware was a slave state, but one that was uniquely close to Philadelphia and the promise of freedom. In addition, many prominent Delaware families, including the Corbits, were Quakers, who were the backbone of the northern abolitionist movement. This meant that Delaware was both a popular destination on the Underground Railroad and a site of brutal revanchism by powerful slaveholding interests.
This came to a head in 1845 at the Corbit house. By then, the house was owned by William Corbit’s son Daniel, and his wife Mary. While less publicly outspoken than other Delawareans, the Corbits were known to be abolitionists and Daniel was whispered to be an agent of the Underground Railroad. One day, while Daniel was away, Mary was startled by a knock on her door. A runaway enslaved man named Sam explained that he was being hunted, and asked to be hidden. Mary led Sam to the third floor attic of the house, where behind a tiny cubbyhole sat a nook that was large enough to fit a person. She provided him with food and a quilt, and suggested he sit tight.
A few minutes later, Mary was confronted with a second knock, this time from the local sheriff. The officer explained that he was here to track down a fugitive slave, and that he had been told that the man had been spotted entering the house. Mary, nervous but quick-thinking, said that he could come in, but refused to let the officer’s dogs into the house. Without canine scent tracking, the sheriff could not find Sam, who was safely ensconced in a hidden room behind a door so small that the sheriff did not think to search it. At dusk, Mary sent Sam on his way to Philadelphia, and to freedom.
For this story and others, the Corbit house was named a stop on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. The building itself remained in the hands of the Corbit family until 1938. At that time, it was purchased by H. Rodney Sharp, an accountant who had married into the du Pont family fortune. Sharp was a historic preservationist by temperament who wanted to preserve Odessa’s history. Over the next 30 years, he worked to restore the house, notably hiring landscape architect Marian Cruger Coffin to design a Colonial-era inspired garden.
The Corbit-Sharp House is just one of the buildings that Sharp ended up purchasing and preserving. Today, the Historic Odessa Foundation manages nearly 70 acres of grounds and five historic houses, including the 1822 Cantwell’s Tavern, which is now open as a restaurant for people to dine in as they did more than 200 years ago. Together, these buildings tell a story of the history of Odessa, and the moment in history that was hidden from view.
