Many of our readers are familiar with Willow Brook Farms and the golf course. Areas of the farm and former golf course are now being developed into a large housing complex.

When this writer drives past the former farm and golf course it evokes memories of the Fuller family who owned this landmark property. The family lineage can be traced back to the early history of our country, when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. One of the early settlers was Samuel Fuller.

The Pilgrims joined together with 41 adults and signed the Mayflower Compact, a framework of government for just and equal laws. The Fuller family became American industrialists with a vision to the future.

In 1866, the Fullers were owners of the Lehigh Car, Wheel and Axel Works. The company manufactured and sold cars to the rapidly growing railroad system. Soon they saw the possibilities for providing machinery for a new industry — cement.

David Saylor patented the first Portland cement in 1866. Fuller Company would have its main office in Catasauqua. One of the first machines they manufactured was a pulverizing mill which ground raw clinker into fine cement.

The Fullers were also instrumental in saving and operating the Allentown Cement Company in Evansville in Berks County. The century-old plant is still in operation and is owned by Heidelberg Materials.

The family also purchased the land which was Willow Brook Farms. James Fuller built a private five-hole golf course there in the 1920s. Eventually the golf course was expanded to nine holes and later 18 holes. The golf course was enjoyed by many avid golfers over the years.

My friend Larry Tait, a graduate of Catasauqua High School, had a great interest in local history. He provided me with rare photos of the farm and the golf course. In this series, we will share some of the photos with our readers.

Larry Tait’s photos were especially interesting to this writer. My father, Anthony Pany, and his cousin Frank Wolfer were young immigrants when they came to America. In their youth, they worked as farm hands on local farms abutting the Fuller property.

One day their employers, William and Warren Smith, took the eager boys to visit the Fuller farms to view the horses, cows, the dairy and farm operations. They often spoke of the visit which became a lifetime memory.

The boys marveled at the number of horses used on the farm. It was an era when the horse was not yet replaced by the modern tractor. Soon the man behind the plow would disappear, only to remain an icon in Amish country.

The Fuller farm operated their own dairy; the first my father ever saw! The milk was produced by prizewinning Guernsey cows. The dairy bore the name Willow Brook Dairy Farms, Guernsey Milk Catasauqua.

Hay was harvested the old-fashioned way. The alfalfa was mowed, dried by nature and loaded loose on horse-drawn wagons. It was then hauled to the barns and hoisted into the upper reaches of the barns by pulley and hook, to be fed to the cattle during the long winter months. The harvest cycle would resume with the warm summer sunshine.

In two weeks, we will share more memories from Willow Brook Farm and golf course.