Raised in rural central Pennsylvania, hampered by the lack of a formal education and nearly bankrupt by the time he was 30, Milton S. Hershey went on to become not only one of America’s wealthiest individuals, but also a successful entrepreneur whose products are known the world over, a visionary builder of the town which bears his name and a philanthropist whose open-hearted generosity continues to touch the lives of thousands.

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 1400 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, have 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.

For more information, visit the Hershey Archives or the Hershey - Derry Township Historical Society.