Milton S. Hershey - The Town of Hershey

The Town of Hershey

Hershey visioned a complete community around his factory site. He built a model town for his employees that included comfortable homes, an inexpensive public transportation system, a quality public school system and extensive recreational and cultural opportunities. Hershey avoided building a faceless company town with row houses. He wanted a home town with tree-lined streets, single- and two-family brick houses, and manicured lawns. He was concerned about providing adequate recreation and diversions, so he built Hershey Park (now rendered "Hersheypark"), which opened on April 24, 1907 and expanded rapidly over the next several years. Amusement rides, a swimming pool, and a ballroom were added. Soon, trolley cars and trains were bringing thousands of out-of-town visitors to the park. Hershey established a sugar mill in Havana Province,Cuba. There they built a town with schools, church, etc. In addition a railroad between The cities of Havana & Matanzas was constructed to facilitate the transportation of sugar to the ports and be shipped to the US. As a service to those communities a passenger train was offered which ran 60 miles using electric operated cars.