Delaware Produce and Transportation
Guiding the Eating Habits of the Nation
Transportation
By Water Shipbuilding was one of the largest industries in the central Delaware town of Milford. Shipbuilding began in Milford proper about 1782. The abundance of white oak made the town the prime shipbuilding hub in middle to southern Delaware. During the transition from wood to steam in the 1840s-50s, ships were used to transport the state’s #1 cash crop, peaches, to northern markets. Even for those farmers fortunate enough to live near Delaware ports, the long-distance transport of fresh peaches by ship could prove problematic, as it might take as many as seven days for the peaches to reach Wilmington, Delaware.
The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal is the only canal built in 19th-century America that still operates today as a major shipping route, connecting the Port of Baltimore and Upper Chesapeake Bay with the mouth of the Delaware River and the Port of Philadelphia. As a toll canal, the Chesapeake & Delaware experienced its peak in 1872, carrying more than 1.3 million tons of cargo, including Delaware peaches. 1
By Rail In the mid-1850s, the Delaware Railroad opened previously landlocked areas of the Delaware from north to south, increasing the profitability of produce farming and the value of the land.
In the years following the Civil War, railroads in the U.S. were privately owned and entirely unregulated. The railroad monopolies had the power to set prices, exclude competitors, and control the market in several geographic areas. Railroads discriminated in the prices they charged to passengers and shippers in different areas of the country by providing rebates to large shippers and buyers. These practices were especially harmful to American farmers, who lacked the shipment volume necessary to obtain lower rates.
In 1883, Samuel H. Derby of Woodside, Delaware, joined with other growers in the area in the creation of the Delaware Fruit Exchange. The purpose of the Exchange was to combat the railroad monopoly by concentrating buyers of peaches and other fruit at one shipping point where they inspected and graded the fruit and auctioned them to the highest bidder. 2
In 1887, the Interstate Commerce Act created the Interstate Commerce Commission to oversee the conduct of the railroad industry. With this act, the railroads became the first industry subject to Federal regulation. 3
By Road The DuPont Highway opened the state of Delaware to commerce and spurred the growth of truck farms. Among the truck crops produced by Delaware farmers were tomatoes, strawberries, melons, beets, broccoli, celery, radishes, onions, cabbage, and lettuce. Over time, advances in refrigeration enabled the manufacture of large-capacity refrigerated trucks that were used to transport Delaware produce to other states.
Delaware was centrally located in what was referred to in the 1920s as the "Middle Atlantic Trucking Region,'' extending more than 900 miles from the southern coast of Maine to South Carolina. 4
The Founding of a Transportation Dynasty
“One day it was necessary to deliver four cases of tomatoes from the Captain Murphy cannery at Davis Landing (Delaware) to Milford, a distance of about eight miles. It was raining, the dirt roads were soft, and the Ford touring car could not travel the ruts. Mr. John Burris, who lived in Milford and had a Ford pick-up truck, was called and asked to deliver the cases. He came to the factory, picked up the cases, and started off. His truck bogged down, and he remarked, “Captain Murphy, I will have to buy a larger truck,” which he did. It was the beginning of the Burris Express.” 5
Captain Murphy later purchased his own 1920 GMC 3-ton solid tire truck to handle expanded demand for his canned lima beans sold under the labels “Catherine’s Choice” and “Sanitary Packed”. His sons, Bill and Eugene, hauled the first shipment of canned goods north on the newly completed DuPont Highway. It took them 12 hours to drive from Milford to Philadelphia, a distance of 96 miles. The Governor of Delaware approved the trip in agreement with the Governor of Pennsylvania. 6
Slow Ride
The 1920 GMC K-71 3½ Ton solid tire truck weighed 7,900 lbs., empty. The weight of the vehicle along with a full cargo load (7,000 lb. capacity) and 51 Horsepower engine, made for a “slow ride”. Hardships brought by the Great Depression and metal shortages during World War II meant that people held on to their older model trucks. The slow ride, particularly with regard to trucks used in agriculture, continued for decades.
Federal and state regulations governing interstate commerce by motor vehicle changed drastically with the Interstate Under the Motor Carrier Act of 1935. Under the Act, the Interstate Commerce Commission determined which companies became interstate motor carriers, what they hauled, where they hauled and the fees they charged. 7
Sources:
- Chesapeake & Delaware Canal | ASCE
- Derby Walker (2024)
- https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/interstate-commerce-act)
- Agricultural Regions of North America. Part VII--The Middle Atlantic Trucking Region Oliver E. Baker (1929)
- Business and Industries of Milford, Delaware 1787 – 1987. Edited by Harold B. Hancock and M. Catherine Downing
- Business and Industries of Milford, Delaware 1787 – 1987. Edited by Harold B. Hancock and M. Catherine Downing
- Federal Motor Carrier Act of 1935 (cornell.edu)