Fitzgerald Salvage & Recycling

OUR HISTORY

Our great-grandfather had a gas station on the south-east corner of Rt 113 and 207 in Lincoln, Delaware. My grandfather, John T Fitzgerald, grew up there, pumping gas, and learning how to work on cars. He started acquiring and collecting them, using the parts to fix whatever it was he was working on. He stored the cars on the family farm until they started getting in the way. It was then he knew that he was going to have to find a better place. In 1935, an acre of ground across the intersection from the gas station came up for sale. Granddad bought it, moved his cars there, and started Fitzgerald’s Junkyard. ​

He built a two-story wooden building to house his auto-repair business. He employed a few people who could do mechanic work and made sure that someone was available 24 hours a day for travelers who might need emergency repairs on the “new” DuPont Hwy (Rt. 113). He also expanded the business to include the sales of auto parts and the selling of old, rusted hulks of cars for scrap metal. ​

Sometime around 1944 he became ill. By the time the doctors diagnosed him with a brain tumor, he did not have much time left. He died in 1950 at age 41. Since none of the children were old enough to take over, his wife Lillie Fitzgerald trusted the job of running the business to one of the employees. At age 18, John T. (“Jack”) Fitzgerald Jr. convinced his mother that he was ready to take over, which he did. In 1966, the business was incorporated under the name Fitzgerald’s Auto Salvage. After running the business for several years, Jack, along with his wife Karen, bought it from his mother.