The family who operated a nearby apple orchard had bought a piper cub in the mid 1950’s. On one occasion in about March 1957, Don Linvill invited my Dad, Kenneth Wolff, to come along for a plane ride. Ken Wolff took several 35mm photos of Wolff’s Sunny Brae Orchards from the air that day. Because of the airplane vibrations most photos are quite blurry. Here is one of the best images.
This photo is taken looking primarily toward the northeast.
Wolff’s Orchard is in the center of the photo. The Wolff barn can be seen on the left edge of the orchard along with Wolff’s Applehouse to the left of the barn, on Pennell Rd.
Pennell Rd runs along the lower part of the photo from the bottom right corner to the left edge, center.
In the bottom right corner is War Admiral Lane and the entrance to “Riddlewood” which runs along the south and east sides of Wolff’s Orchard.
On the center left edge, Man O War Dr. leaves Pennell Rd and also enters “Riddlewood” and extends back into the center of the photo on the north edge of Wolff’s Orchard where it intersects War Admiral Lane beyond the back left corner of the orchard.
On the bottom edge of the photo, just to the left of the yellow airplane wing strut, can be seen Lenni Rd as it ends at Pennell Rd. Just across Pennell Rd from Lenni Rd can be seen the small square building which was Bill Smart’s gas station and penny candy store.
The wooded area on the left half of the photo along the lower edge is where Glenwood School would be built in 1963-64.
Above Man O War, on the left side of the photo, about 1/4 of the distance from the top of the photo, Rt 1, Baltimore Pike runs to the right, at a slightly upward angle and disappears into the haze as it approaches Media. Directly above the back rounded corner of Wolff’s Orchard, it is possible to see the intersection of Baltimore Pike and Middletown Rd (Rt 352) known to most local residents as the “Clover Leaf”. The open area just below the Clover Leaf intersection is where Riddle Memorial Hospital is now located.
Directly across Baltimore Pike from the Riddle Hospital field, there are a few small clumps of darker trees. This is the current location of Granite Run Mall which extends over the entire open field to the left, and ends at the short stretch of road running vertically, with a half dozen homes along the left edge of the road which is Oriole Avenue.
Slightly upward from the Granite Run Mall location is another open field which is the current location of Penncrest High School. The most distant homes on the left side of the photo, which are located on Van Leer Avenue mark the left edge of the Penncrest High School property.
There is another open field along the left edge of the photo, just above Man O War Dr, which was always known to the Wolff Family as “Penny Worrell’s Corn Field”. The field belonged to the Worrell family and was used as a corn field by Wolff’s for many years.
Absent from the photo is the entire home community of Sunny Brae (Whirlaway Road, Gallant Fox Drive and Citation Lane), which were all constructed on the site of Wolff’s Sunny Brae Orchard in the late 1970’s.
Sixty years ago, there was a lot less going on in Lima, Pennsylvania, but Wolff’s Sunny Brae Orchard was vibrant, vital and growing apples, peaches, corn and tomatoes.
Conrad Wolff