Former warehouse in Georgetown added to the National Register of Historic Places

The Isaacs and Sons cold storage building on Depot Street in Georgetown

The Isaacs and Sons cold storage building on Depot Street in Georgetown has been added to the National Register of Historic Places for its significance as one of Sussex County’s earliest such warehouses with links to the Great Depression and Delaware’s broiler chicken industry.

The listing will also make way for the building’s proposed future use as a dual-language public charter school for kindergarten through fifth grade. The property’s current owner aims to apply to the Historic Preservation Tax Credit (HPTC) program for the project.

The three-story brick warehouse, also known as the Layton cold storage building, was the first of its kind in Sussex County in 1920 when prominent Sussex County grocer and gubernatorial candidate Landreth L. Layton established a cold storage plant across Depot Street from his grocery/wholesale store.

The Isaacs and Sons cold storage building on Depot Street in Georgetown

During the Great Depression, Layton served on the Delaware State Relief Commission representing Sussex County and distributed seed and food to the county’s residents from his cold storage facility.

The earliest section of the cold storage building dates from circa 1920 with an expansion circa 1925 to the west and north. By 1929, a larger four-story warehouse was added to the south elevation fronting Depot Street and included elevators to move goods between floors. The final expansion of the building took place in 1948 under the ownership of John Sudler Isaacs. Later additions to the building are distinctive and are easily differentiated from the historic core.

Following the Layton family’s ownership, the warehouse was purchased in 1941 by prominent Delaware agricultural business owner John Sudler Isaacs. The cold storage plant became a staging and storage area for Isaacs to fulfill his contract to supply the military with broiler chickens. After World War II, Isaacs nearly doubled the plant’s capacity to capitalize on the growing national trend for frozen foods.

After Isaacs’ death in 1951, the facility remained in operation as a cold storage plant under various owners until 1973.

To learn more about the full history of the site and why it was added to the National Register, read the full nomination HERE

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