Old Orchard Park LbNA #33231 (ARCHIVED)

3/10/13
UNFORTUNATELY, IT SEEMS WE'VE BEEN MUGGLED AGAIN!
Please keep checking back for a new message to say the box has been replaced!




Difficulty: Low to Moderate

Welcome to what was our very first attempt at planting a letterbox! Unfortunately, the first 4 boxes we planted here in 2007 were repeatedly muggled, so we have replanted today, Mother's Day 2011! WE WILL PREVAIL!

Cherry Hill is thought to have been a seaside back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth and many different fossils have been found in the surrounding area. And, there were even Native Americans here at one time. The Lenape Indians called this area their home.
The area known today as Cherry Hill, was originally a part of Waterford Township. Then in 1844 it became Delaware Township and was eventually renamed Cherry Hill on December 6, 1962. In the 1800’s Cherry Hill was agriculturally based. Then in the 1920’s it became more suburban when the town’s first real estate boom hit.

To get to Old Orchard Park, take:
*Route 70 East bound
*Make a Right on Old Orchard Avenue (across from the Jaguar dealership)
*Make a Right on the SECOND Thornhill Drive (the street goes in a loop)
*Make a Left into the Old Orchard, Cherry Hill Park
*Park anywhere in the lot

Once at the park, go to the bench facing the swings and the woods. If you have kids, make sure they find the cool rolling slide! While sitting on the bench, look to the right at a pristine open field and to your left to see Joseph D. Sharp Elementary School. The school is named for a man who was originally a school custodian and coal heater tender who then became a prominent landowner and member of the Board of Education. He donated the acre of land that the school was built on, in 1964.
When you’ve enjoyed the playground long enough, stand up and take the well-traveled path to the left of the playground, along the fence and into the woods.

*Go over a creek between 2 split rail fences (in disrepair)
*Come out into a clearing
*Head for the right side of the clearing, in the distance
*Depending on the day, hold your nose as you pass over two sewer man-hole covers and find the last path all the way to the back, right of the clearing (at about 1:00 from where you entered)
*Enter this trail and go straigh ahead 68 adult paces (R1, L2, R3) starting from where the trail goes from grass turns to dirt.
*You should now be standing in front of a large downed tree, perpendicular to your path. Consider this: Some of these trees were here when escaping slaves used this area on their journey to freedom. The Lipincott-Griscom Farm House was on Cropwell Road, just a few blocks from here. The property encompassed almost all of what we know today as the neighborhood called Surrey Place East. The house was a part of the Underground Railroad. Slaves were secretly hidden in the house’s attic on their quest for freedom and some of the slaves that fled there may have passed through this very forest.

*Now that you are at the fallen tree blocking the path, turn to your RIGHT and walk 30 paces. You should be facing the butt end of two large, cut trees and beyond that a small creek.
*Turn to your left and spot a tree with TWO hollows at it's base, one larger than the other.
*The letterbox you seek is deep inside the smaller hollow on the right.

Please make sure to check for muggles! They are rampant in this area and are apparently very destructive!
Rehide this box well and don't forget to tell us you found it and what you thought!

((Note: Just as in most wooded areas, there is some poison ivy here. We were careful not to plant the box in an area that had any visible, but it is around, so use caution.))