ABOUT FITZGERALD SALVAGE & RECYCLING
THE FITZGERALD
DIFFERENCE
Family-Owned and Operated
Our family has been in the salvage and recycling business for generations - right here in Lincoln!
Committed to Cleaner Communities
We want to leave this world cleaner and greener than we found it. Our business is our way of contributing to that mission.
Get Rewarded for Recycling
We believe you should be rewarded for recycling. We pay you for your scrap metal, automobiles, appliances, and other similar items!
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.
NOW
Today the business has grown to occupy 40 acres, employing about 40 people. Our name has changed to Fitzgerald Salvage and Recycling better reflecting the broad array of services we now offer. We have expanded from exclusively junk cars to all types of metals.
As we enter the third decade of the 21th century we are meeting the challenge of advancements in technology, with increased environmental awareness, as we do our part in making Delmarva a better place to live, work, and pray.