Robert H. Barr & Co.

Owner: Robert Barr, William C. Hilles, Allen Hilles
Industry type: Machine shop
Location: 11th Street Bridge
Active dates: 1863-1870

Summary: In 1863, Robert Barr took over Crossley & Barr, the machine shop he co-owned with John Crossley on the lower Brandywine near the 11th Street Bridge. Barr renamed the company Robert H. Barr & Co. In the late 1860s, Barr merged his business with that of William C. Hilles, who had a boiler shop and boatyard on the Brandywine. Robert Barr retired in 1870 and the company became Hilles & Jones Machine Tool Works.

Citations: Scharf, John Thomas. History of Delaware 1609-1888, Vol. 2. Philadelphia: L. J. Richards & Co., 1888.

Zebley, Frank R. Along the Brandywine. Wilmington: William Cann, Inc., 1940, 144.
 

Online Primary Sources/Images: Pomeroy and Beers, Atlas of the State of Delaware, 1868. Hagley Digital Archives.