Do you remember the William Penn Diner at Hares Corner?
Our recent story about Delaware diners got us thinking about a former landmark at Hares Corner.
Do you remember the William Penn Diner? This may be more of a case of "Can you believe this was here?" rather than "Do you remember ...?" since it's been 72 years since William Penn was in existence.
William Penn Diner once sat on the southeast corner of DuPont Parkway and Hares Corner near New Castle. It became a well-known site for about 20 years, from about 1931 to 1951, due to its quirky design.
The diner featured a mock crashed plane on its roof. The design, a true roadside attraction, was a way to catch the eye of passing motorists, as well as a cheeky nod to the nearby New Castle County airport.
The William Penn once was opened daily for 24 hours, but in 1950 the hours changed to 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.
The diner always wanted experienced employees. Help-wanted classified advertisements placed in the newspaper for the diner required that cooks, hostesses and waitresses were over the age of 25.
A fire started in the kitchen at about 2:30 a.m. on May 22, 1951, about 90 minutes after the diner closed. The origin was unknown. Five years earlier, the diner had had a grease fire in the kitchen that required assistance from the Good Will Fire Company.
Max Haymer, who worked at the diner and was cleaning up, noticed the flames in the early hours of that Tuesday morning and rushed into the diner's adjoining bar area. Owner Thomas Althouse Sr. was sleeping in the bar that was added to the diner in the 1940s, according to news reports.
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Althouse, who had owned the diner for eight years and employed 10 people, woke up and tried to rush into the kitchen, but he was forced back because the heat from the flames was too intense.
Seven fire companies rushed to the scene, including the Minquadale Fire Company. On the way to the fire, Minquadale's chief Arthur Carallo fell from the truck as it was leaving the firehouse and severely cut his jaw. Firefighters carried him back to the building to await the arrival of an ambulance. Carallo needed 15 stitches to close the wound.
Firefighters battled the blaze. Flames rose several hundred feet in the air. By 3 a.m., a large crowd gathered at the scene to watch the firefighters in action. The diner was gutted. The loss was estimated at $165,000. There was no insurance on the building.
"They say life begins at 40, but for me, it has to begin again at a later age than that," Althouse, then 55, said in a 1951 interview with the Journal-Every Evening (a precursor to The News Journal) after the fire.
Althouse died at age 79 in 1975. The William Penn Diner was later featured in the 2007 book "Classic American Diners."
Later, the Viking Diner at Hares Corner, where the Burger King now stands, was run by Helen Hoffman McDonnell from 1958 until she sold it in 1973. She was the only female charter member of the Delaware Restaurant Association. Parts of the Viking Diner were incorporated into the former ChesDel Restaurant in Middletown, which closed in 2018.
"Do you remember?" is an occasional Delaware Online/The News Journal feature that looks at the history behind long-gone Delaware buildings, objects, businesses and places.
Contact Patricia Talorico at ptalorico@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2861 and follow her on X (Twitter) @pattytalorico. Sign up for her Delaware Eats newsletter.
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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Old New Castle diner's attraction was a plane 'crashed' on its roof
