Nixon started his own business in January 1895 by leasing the Crescent Shipyard in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He started this business with another former William Cramp & Sons shipbuilder and naval architect, Arthur Leopold Busch, who came from Great Britain to Philadelphia in 1892, and was Nixon's superintendent-in-charge at Crescent during this time. Under Nixon (and Busch) this yard built many vessels, including torpedo boats and ], cruiser , monitor , gunboat , and Anstice yacht (1902) that was renamed the "Sandy Hook".