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History of the Apple Ranch The Lava Ridge Ranch, As it was called originally, was owned by the Ralph family. They planted the first trees in 1890 and besides growing apples there were two gold mines on the property. During WWII hard times hit the Ralph Family, and the bank foreclosed on the ranch. It was then bought by Mr. Bowlsby and then by Anthony and Rudy Gottelli. |
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Ranch History Cover's Map F.A.Q. Links Contact Us |
Rudy and Esther Cover bought the ranch in 1959, and at this time the name was changed to Cover's Apple Ranch. The apple business was pretty much seasonal at this time, with the season extended somewhat with the use of cold storage. The Cover family ran the ranch until 1970 when Louis and Evelyn Sonka bought it. The name change to Sonka's was the first of many changes. Louis started grazing sheep in the orchard, Evelyn started the pie and gift shop. The Sonka's also extensively remodeled the farm house. The next owners were a partnership of Hal and Jude Bomgardner and Paul and Joanne Wheeler. The partnership dissolved after several years with the Bomgardners becoming sole owners. They expanded the bake shop, remodeled the apple shed and added a petting farm. The miniature railroad, owned by Jim Hoback was installed in 1987. With Jude becoming ill, the ranch changed hands several times with ownership reverting to Mr. Bomgardner. Then in July 1998 the Joe Cover family bought the ranch. Once again the name has been changed back to Cover's Apple Ranch. The present owners are a partnership of Joe and Carol Cover, their six sons and their wives. There have been some obvious changes in the ranch already.( a major facelift) and more to come. One thing we haven't changed though is the original trees that the Ralph family planted all those years ago. | |
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