Hershey: The Chocolate Town

Caramels first

Milton Hershey failed several times as a candy maker before succeeding with the Lancaster Caramel Company in Pennsylvania. At the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago he saw German chocolate-making machines and bought them. In 1900 he sold the caramel business for 1 million dollars to focus on chocolate.

Milk chocolate for everyone

Milk chocolate was then a luxury from Switzerland. Hershey worked out his own process for mass-producing it, and the Hershey's milk chocolate bar went on sale in 1900. Its slightly tangy flavour, which many people associate with American chocolate, comes from his process. Hershey's Kisses followed in 1907.

Building a town

Hershey built a large factory in farmland in Derry Township, Pennsylvania, opening in 1905, and around it a town for workers with homes, schools, a trolley system, parks and an amusement park. The town took the name Hershey, and its streets include Chocolate Avenue and Cocoa Avenue, where streetlights are shaped like Kisses.

Legacy

Milton and Catherine Hershey had no children and founded a school for orphaned boys in 1909, now the Milton Hershey School, which educates children from low-income families for free. Much of the company's ownership is held by a trust that funds the school. Today visitors to Hershey can tour Hershey's Chocolate World, ride Hersheypark's coasters and smell chocolate in the air on some days.

Visiting Hershey

Hershey's Chocolate World, the free visitor centre, has a ride that explains how chocolate is made, plus tastings and a create-your-own-bar experience for a fee. Hersheypark, which began as a picnic park for workers in 1906, is now a large amusement park with roller coasters. The Hershey Story museum tells the life of Milton Hershey and the history of the town.

Did you know? Hershey's Kisses are wrapped by machine with a small paper plume sticking out, which the company trademarked. The name's origin is uncertain, though some say it came from the sound or motion of the depositing machine.

← Cadbury and BournvilleHow Switzerland Invented Milk Chocolate →