A successful entrepreneur…eventually.

Following a four-year apprenticeship as a teenager to a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, candy maker, Hershey in 1876 attempted to start his own candy business in Philadelphia. Despite six years of hard work, it failed. So he moved to Denver and found work with a confectioner who taught him how to make caramels using fresh milk. He then started up a second candy business in New York City. It also failed. Undaunted, he returned to Lancaster and once again tried making a go of the caramel business. This time, it worked. Soon his Lancaster Caramel Company was shipping all over the U.S. and Europe, employing 1,400 people and turning him into one of the area’s leading citizens.

But what about the chocolate?

It was at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago that Hershey first became fascinated with the art of chocolate making. While there, he purchased some German machinery, had it shipped to Lancaster and began producing chocolate coatings for his caramels. But aware of the growing demand for chocolate itself, he soon started the Hershey Chocolate Company. For years, he worked at perfecting a viable recipe for making milk chocolate - a process which up to then had been kept a closely guarded secret by the Swiss. Finally, through trial and error, he hit upon the right formula of milk, sugar and cocoa that enabled him to realize his dream of mass-producing and distributing milk chocolate candy. What had once been a luxury for the rich was to become an enjoyment that anyone could afford - the Hershey bar.

A new business needs a new location.

With his Hershey Chocolate Company growing by leaps and bounds, Hershey decided to sell his caramel company (for $1 million, an enormous sum in 1900!) and devote his attention to making chocolate. Discovering a need to expand his production capacity, he began looking around for a suitable place to build a new factory. He found it in nearby Derry Township, where he had been born. Convenient to the port cities that could provide cocoa beans and sugar, surrounded by dairy farms and endowed with a hardworking populace, the area seemed ideal. In 1903, he broke ground.

Building a town, not just a company.

Hershey’s success was not simply a matter of luck. Having learned from his past failures, he had become a shrewd and astute businessman. He believed, along with the more forward-thinking industrialists of the age, that workers who were treated fairly and who lived in a comfortable, pleasant environment would be better workers. Accordingly, he set upon building an infrastructure to take care of the people who were employed by his company. He had plans drawn up for a model community that included housing for executives and ordinary workers alike, schools, churches, parks, recreational facilities and a trolley system. Unlike other “company towns,” Hershey’s was not intended to exploit its resident workers, but rather to provide for their welfare. As time went on, Hershey saw to it that the town (named Hershey, naturally) added a community building, a department store, a convention hall, an amusement park, a swimming pool and schools. Lots of schools.

"To train young men to useful trades."

For the farm boy who never had much chance at education himself, providing that opportunity for others was always an important priority. As early as 1909, Hershey and his wife, Catherine, established the Hershey Industrial School, a school for orphan boys. Today named the Milton Hershey School, it has since opened its doors to girls as well. He also made sure that the town of Hershey had the finest elementary and secondary schools possible. There were even plans for a junior college. In 1918 and with no fanfare, Hershey transferred the bulk of his considerable wealth, including his ownership in the Hershey Chocolate Company and other enterprises, to the Hershey Trust to be held for the Hershey Industrial School.

A legacy that lives on.

With the death of Milton Hershey in 1945, the company, town and institutions that bear his name were well positioned to continue and grow. The Hershey Chocolate Corporation has evolved into The Hershey Company, a profitable company encompassing a range of products found in homes throughout the world. The town of Hershey, with its many attractions, has become a popular destination for both vacationing tourists and business conventioneers. The Milton Hershey School, along with Hershey’s other philanthropic endeavors, has expanded and prospered, with the school housing and educating hundreds of boys and girls. In a long and useful life, Milton S. Hershey proved himself to be a courageous entrepreneur, a determined builder and a compassionate humanitarian.

Milton Hershey’s Birthplace: The Homestead

Built by Hershey’s great-grandparents in 1826 on 350 acres of prime Pennsylvania farmland, this was where Milton S. Hershey was born on September 13, 1857. He did not live there long, however; his family moved frequently while his father pursued a multitude of unsuccessful business ventures.

Sold off in 1877, the family homestead was eventually bought back by Milton Hershey twenty years later. In 1909, it became the first location of Hershey’s school for orphan boys.

Milton Hershey’s Mother: Veronica “Fanny” Hershey

By all accounts, Veronica “Fanny” Snavely Hershey was the practical, down-to-earth influence in Milton Hershey’s life. A deeply religious woman, she wore the plain dress of her Reformed Mennonite Church throughout her life. It was his mother’s values of hard work and perseverance that contributed greatly to Hershey’s later success.

The Mennonites were a strict-living sect who emigrated from Europe’s German-speaking Palatinate region in the 18th century. Many of them (including both sides of Milton Hershey’s family) settled in central Pennsylvania, where they continue to flourish today.

Milton Hershey’s Father: Henry Hershey

A tall, handsome man, Henry Hershey has been described as possessing “an alert and inquiring mind,” as well as a love of learning and books. Nevertheless, he seems always to have had difficulty earning a living and supporting his family. His life consisted of chasing dreams and finding failure as he traveled about in pursuit of one unsuccessful business scheme after another.

In 1856, Henry Hershey married Fanny Snavely, a girl from a respected Lancaster County family. But while Henry was a “head in the clouds” type, Fanny was definitely the down-to-earth sort. With such opposite personalities, husband and wife soon became estranged from each other.

Early Education: Derry Church School

Because his family moved so often during his childhood, Milton Hershey’s education was necessarily hit-or-miss. In eight years of formal education, he attended seven different schools.

This one-room schoolhouse in Derry Township, for example, is one that Milton Hershey attended. It can still be seen today situated next to Milton Hershey’s High Point Mansion. All his life, Hershey was conscious of his limited education, so he was especially devoted to providing opportunities for others, such as his school for boys.

The Young Apprentice

In 1871, Milton Hershey left school for good and was apprenticed to a local printer who published a German-English newspaper. But he didn’t like that kind of work, and the arrangement ended quickly.

Next, his mother stepped in and succeeded in getting her son apprenticed to a Lancaster County confectioner named Joseph Royer. The 14-year-old Hershey turned out to have a natural talent for candy-making and in the next four years learned the art and science of creating tasty confections.

Milton Hershey’s Wife: Catherine S. Hershey

Success did not come early or easily to Milton Hershey, but once he became an established businessman, Hershey was able to turn his attention to personal matters. On a trip to Jamestown, NY, he met an attractive, 26-year-old woman with a sparkling personality. Her name was Catherine Sweeney, or “Kitty” as she was called by her family. The auburn-haired beauty immediately captured the older Hershey’s heart, and the couple was married in New York City on May 25, 1898.

The marriage was a good one for both Kitty and Milton, with each doting on the other and the two of them traveling the world together. Still, the fact that they never had children remained a disappointment. Instead, the Hersheys established a boarding school for orphan boys and came to think of the boys as their family. In 1915, Kitty died following a long and debilitating illness. Milton Hershey never remarried, and for the rest of his life carried her picture with him everywhere he went.

Early Attempts

At the age of 18, Milton Hershey established his first candy business in Philadelphia just in time for the Centennial Exposition of 1876. Despite long hours of hard work and the financial backing of his mother’s family, the business failed after six years.

Next, Hershey followed his father to the Colorado silver fields, where he took a job with a Denver candy maker and learned the secret of making caramels with fresh milk. After a few months, he left Denver and ended up in New York City.

Here, in the largest candy market in the world, he tried once again to make a go of it. And once again, despite all his efforts, he was unsuccessful. In 1886, he returned to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was 28 years old and penniless

Lancaster Caramel Company

Milton Hershey refused to give up. Soon after arriving in Lancaster, he started a company to manufacture caramels using the methods he had learned in Denver. But like his earlier start-ups, he did not have the capital to produce in sufficient quantities to make a profit.

This time, however, a British candy importer offered to market his confections abroad and placed a large order. With this order in hand, Hershey convinced a local bank to lend him the financing he needed to expand his operation. In four years, Milton Hershey would become one of the leading manufacturers of caramels in the United States.

Columbian Exposition: 1893

Among the thousands who visited the Chicago exposition were Milton Hershey and his cousin Frank Snavely. One exhibit particularly captured Hershey’s imagination; it also changed his life. A German company was showing how chocolate was manufactured, and Hershey was convinced that this was the future of candy-making.

Consequently, he purchased the exhibit’s entire assembly of chocolate-making equipment, had it crated up and shipped back to Lancaster. There, he installed the machinery in the east wing of his caramel factory and began making chocolate.

Hershey Chocolate Company

Initially, the Hershey Chocolate Company produced sweet chocolate and cocoa for the flavoring and coating of Hershey’s own caramels. But soon, Hershey began selling his excess product to other confectioners. In fact, the first recorded sale of HERSHEY’S chocolate was on April 17, 1895.

While his new company was marketing more than a hundred different novelty items made of sweet chocolate, Hershey worked unceasingly on perfecting a formula for producing milk chocolate. It was a challenge that was to take years of trial and error to overcome.

Hershey Chocolate Company

Initially, the Hershey Chocolate Company produced sweet chocolate and cocoa for the flavoring and coating of Hershey’s own caramels. But soon, Hershey began selling his excess product to other confectioners. In fact, the first recorded sale of HERSHEY’S chocolate was on April 17, 1895.

While his new company was marketing more than a hundred different novelty items made of sweet chocolate, Hershey worked unceasingly on perfecting a formula for producing milk chocolate. It was a challenge that was to take years of trial and error to overcome.

Early Products

Milton Hershey was the first American to develop a formula for manufacturing milk chocolate, introducing the molded milk chocolate bar we know today in 1900. It was affordable, tasted good and remained fresh for a long time. No wonder it was an immediate sensation!

Applying the concepts of mass production so successful in other industries, Hershey limited his production to only a few items in order to keep the cost of producing each as low as possible. In 1907, the company added HERSHEY’S KISSES Chocolates to its product line and followed up a year later with Hershey’s milk chocolate bar with almonds. Hershey packaged his candy to sell in grocery stores, newsstands and vending machines.

Trolley System

Even before the Hershey Chocolate factory was completed, work was begun on a trolley system to connect the new town to nearby communities. Not only did the trolleys serve as a means of inexpensive transportation for workers, they also brought milk to the factory, an essential ingredient for milk chocolate.

At first, Hershey’s transit system connected to nearby Palmyra and was eventually extended to Lebanon. As the need for milk increased, the system was expanded further to included stations as far away as Elizabethtown in Lancaster County. The trolley service was discontinued in 1946.

Homes for Employees

While the factory was being constructed, the rest of the town was being planned, including residences for the company’s employees. On streets with names like Trinidad, Java, Granada and Ceylon (all places where cocoa beans are grown), homes were built for Hershey workers and executives. Milton Hershey did not want his community to look like a factory town, so he instructed builders to use a variety of designs.

Inevitably, the question arose as to what to name the community. Since it was not an incorporated entity (and still isn’t to this day), it had no governmental standing by itself, being merely a part of Derry Township. So the town was simply named after its post office: Hershey

Cocoa House: 1905

Milton Hershey wanted to make his new community an attractive place to live, so he made sure it provided more than merely the basic necessities. The first building constructed after the factory itself was the Cocoa House located at the intersection of Chocolate and Cocoa Avenues. It originally served as the town center and included a store, bank, post office, boarding rooms and lunchroom.

Hershey also provided for a laundry, a blacksmith shop, a printing plant, a café, a department store and a barber shop. Companies were started to supply water, electric power, sewage and telephone service. In 1909, he even launched a weekly newspaper, the Hershey Press.

HERSHEYPARK Opens: 1907

Milton Hershey realized that all work and no play made for unhappy workers. So early on he set aside land in his model community for recreational purposes. Originally planned as picnic grounds, by 1910 Hershey Park had expanded to include a children’s playground, a band shell (with daily concerts!), a swimming pool, a zoo and a bowling alley. Hershey also added amusement rides, such as a model railway and carousel.

Like the chocolate factory and, indeed, the town itself, Hershey Park quickly became a tourist attraction with excursion trains and trolleys bringing groups to Hershey from surrounding communities. Today, of course, HERSHEYPARK is 110 acres of excitement and fun for the whole family with over 60 rides and attractions, including ten world-class roller coasters.

High Point Mansion

Milton and Catherine Hershey chose a site on a hill overlooking the chocolate factory for their own home. Called High Point, it was completed in 1908 and, with 22 rooms and a staff of only three, was rather modest compared to the homes of other wealthy industrialists of the age. Kitty Hershey personally oversaw the landscaping, which included many flower gardens, fountains and statues.

Sadly, the Hersheys did not have long to enjoy their new home together. Kitty died in March of 1915 after many years of a progressive illness. In 1930, Milton Hershey donated High Point to the Hershey Country Club, retaining only a small upstairs apartment in which he continued to live until his death in 1945.

Community Center: 1933

Built across the street from the Cocoa House, this Italian Renaissance-style structure is six stories tall and covers six acres of floor space. It originally contained an indoor swimming pool, a gymnasium, a library, a hospital, game rooms, a cafeteria and a world-class theater designed to accommodate both films and live stage shows. The Hershey Men’s Club also moved into this facility from the Cocoa House.

Between 1938 and 1965, the building was home to the Hershey Junior College. It also provided studio space for two radio stations and a public television station. Today, most of the building (except for the theater) is occupied by The Hershey Company sales and marketing team.

The Hotel Hershey

Early in the 1930s, Milton Hershey returned from a trip abroad with the idea of building a grand hotel based on the ones he had found along the Mediterranean. Situated on a hill overlooking the town, the 170-room Hotel Hershey was designed to provide panoramic vistas and the finest in comfort.

Over 600 local workers were employed in its construction (a real boon during the Depression) and European artisans were imported to make sure every detail was exactly right. Today, its majestic lobby, unique 18th century Spanish courtyard and 235 elegantly appointed guestrooms make it one of America’s truly grand hotels.

Hershey Sports Arena: 1936

As part of Milton Hershey’s Depression-era building campaign, a sports arena was constructed to house the local ice hockey team. Originally named the Hershey B’ars (their team colors were maroon and silver just like the candy bars), the team quickly changed its name to less commercial HERSHEY BEARS. They remain a successful American Hockey League franchise, having most recently won the league championship in 1996-97.

Billed as the “largest span concrete monolithic structure in America,” the Hershey Sports Arena was also home to ice-skating revues, basketball from high school to the pros, indoor soccer, wrestling and conventions. For sporting events, the arena can seat 7,200 people.

The Hershey Trust Company: 1905

Milton S. Hershey’s legacy extends beyond the company he founded, the town he built and the products he created that are enjoyed by millions. As early as 1905, he established an independent trust company to provide the town’s financial services and manage the assets that were to fund his many philanthropic endeavors.

Today, the Hershey Trust Company manages the funds of the Milton Hershey School Trust and the M.S. Hershey Foundation, as well as private individuals, families and institutions.

Hershey Industrial School: 1909

On November 15, 1909, Milton Hershey and his wife Catherine established a boarding school for orphan boys to be located at the Homestead, Milton Hershey’s birthplace. To fund the school, Hershey also created the Milton Hershey School Trust and endowed it with 486 acres of farmland. The school’s initial enrollment was ten students.

As the school grew, more buildings and programs were added. In 1951, the school’s name was changed to Milton Hershey School, and in 1976 its Deed of Trust was altered to allow the enrollment of girls as well. Today, the school provides a free K-12 education and a home on a 9,000-acre campus to more than 1200 underprivileged boys and girls.

Funding the School Trust: 1918

The death of his wife in 1915 prompted Milton Hershey to turn his attention to the school he always credited as being “Kitty’s idea.” In the midst of World War I and with no publicity, he transferred the bulk of his wealth, consisting of $60 million in Hershey Chocolate Company stock and other assets, to the School Trust.

Managed by the Hershey Trust Company, Milton Hershey’s original funding of the School Trust has grown in value to more than $6 billion today. The School Trust’s assets currently include 30% ownership in The Hershey Company and 100% ownership of Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company (HERCO), plus other income-producing investments.

The M.S. Hershey Foundation

In the depths of the Great Depression, Milton Hershey created The M.S. Hershey Foundation, endowing it with 5000 shares of Hershey Chocolate Company stock to help fund educational and cultural activities in Derry Township. Three years later, the fund began supporting the new Hershey Junior College, which offered tuition-free education to local residents and Hershey employees until its closing in 1965.

Today, this non-profit foundation funds the Hershey Theater, Hershey Museum, Hershey Gardens and Hershey Community Archives, thus playing a valuable role in the financial and cultural life of the community.

The Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center: 1963

Milton Hershey’s generosity continued on even after his death. In 1963, the Milton Hershey School Trust contributed $50 million and land to the Pennsylvania State University for the establishment of a medical center. In addition to a world-class medical facility with more than 500 physicians, the center also includes the Penn State College of Medicine, as well as a Children’s Hospital.

The Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has emerged as one of the nation’s leading health care facilities, offering a full spectrum of advanced medical and surgical diagnostics and treatments. Meanwhile, the College of Medicine has turned out thousands of well prepared doctors, nurses, scientists and health care professionals since it opened its doors in 1967.