Published June 25. 2026 01:09PM
JoAnn Nonnemaker-Markowicz grew up on the Nonnemaker Farm, which has been operated by her family at its current location on Nonnemaker Lane since 1867.
Through a Facebook page dedicated to the farm’s history, she shares photographs and stories passed down through generations, documenting the changing realities of family farming in the Lehigh Valley.
Her great-grandfather, William Henry Harrison Nonnemaker, was born in 1862.
After completing his education, he became a teacher at the Dorney Park School, a one-room schoolhouse serving grades one through eight.
He taught there for 44 years, from 1881 until his retirement in 1925.
Upon retiring, he took possession of the school bell, which has remained on the family farm for the past century.
His son, Edwin Nonnemaker, later served South Whitehall Township as a school director for many years.
As part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration, the Nonnemaker Farm is inviting community members to decorate wooden stars for the farm’s iconic “Mr. Smiley” barn doors.
More than 250 stars are available and must be returned by June 27.
The stars can be picked up at the farm stand on Nonnemaker Lane.
The celebration will culminate at 7 p.m. on July 4 when the historic school bell may ring for the first time since William Nonnemaker retired from teaching in 1925.
PRESS PHOTOS BY MICHAEL HIRSCHThis school bell from the Dorney Park one-room school was kept by former teacher William Henry Harrison Nonnemaker after his retirement in 1925. The bell is expected to be donated to South Whitehall Township this summer.
Visitors may pick up wooden stars at the farmstand on Nonnemaker Lane to decorate for the farm’s July 4th celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.
JoAnn Nonnemaker-Markowicz said her older brother painted the smiley face on the barn after returning home from service in Vietnam.
This Catalpa tree may date to about 1872. A younger tree growing from its base represents later generations of the Nonnemaker family.
