Tags: Hershey History
Archival Treasures: 25 Years of Caring for Hershey’s History
2015 marks the 30th anniversary of the Hershey Community Archives. This exhibit highlights some of the many treasures found in the collections. Just as Hershey’s history is not only about Milton Hershey, the Archives’ collections contain information about the many businesses, organizations, events and individuals that have shaped the community. “Please send me a box […]
HersheyArchives@30, Part 20: Eckenroth Journals – Working for Hershey Chocolate During the 1930s and 1940s
Daily journals are kept as a personal record of the activities in an individual’s life. Although never intended for a public audience, many journals provide us with a better understanding of what effect world-wide and local events had on an individual. Raphael Eckenroth’s journals detail his work experience in the Hershey Chocolate Factory during the […]
HersheyArchives@30, Part 8: Destination = Hershey, PA
Throughout its history, Hershey has been a well-known destination for entertainment. After the Hershey Chocolate Factory opened in 1905, the town soon emerged as a popular regional destination. Visitors came to explore the model town and enjoy Hershey Park and its growing number of amenities. In 1914, Hershey’s weekly newspaper, The Hershey Press, announced that a […]
HersheyArchives@30
2015 marks the 30th anniversary of the Hershey Community Archives. It’s a personal anniversary for me as well. On February 2, 2015, I arrived in Hershey to start my first day of work creating an archives for the corporations and community of Hershey. I remember feeling pretty overwhelmed by this challenge to start an archives from scratch. I […]
Where Do You Get Your News? Check Out the The Hershey Press
One of the great resources available at the Archives’ website, is its online access to Hershey’s first newspaper, The Hershey Press. The first issue of The Hershey Press was published on September 3, 1909. A weekly publication, The Hershey Press covered local, Hershey news as well as events in neighboring communities. It is a great resource for local […]
“That’s a good bar”
In the 1920s Hershey Chocolate Company wanted to expand its product line and began experimenting with formulas for another nut bar. Samuel Hinkle, who began his career as a plant chemist in November 1924, spearheaded the company’s efforts. He shared vivid memories of developing the formula for Mr. Goodbar in 1925 in his 1975 oral […]
Golf for Hershey’s Youth: Juvenile Country Club
In 1932 Hershey added its most unusual course. The Juvenile Country Club [today Spring Creek Golf Club] was the only course in the United States dedicated to children under eighteen years old. Youth golf fees were $.35 and for an annual fee of $10, children had unlimited access to the Juvenile course. As a result, […]
Heart of the Community: Hershey’s Community Building
Originally planned for 1916 and finally constructed during Hershey’s Great Building Campaign of the 1930s, the goal of the building was to provide entertainment and recreation, as well as to fulfill educational and civic functions for the entire town. World War I and subsequent financial challenges for Hershey Chocolate Company delayed its construction. Finally in […]
New Machinery for the Factory Installed
The Hershey Press issue dated September 17, 1909 carried a variety of articles about the community and Chocolate factory as well as printing ads from Hershey owned and independent businesses. A favorite column was titled: Hershey Briefs: Items About You, Your Neighbors and Things in General. Illnesses, individual’s trips to Harrisburg and Lancaster, comments about people who dropped in to […]
It’s Back to School!
Milton Hershey’s interest in and commitment to providing the town with quality public education led him to underwrite the cost of all the community’s public school buildings constructed in Hershey during his lifetime. Continuing that tradition, in 1954 The M.S. Hershey Foundation presented the Derry Township School District with a new elementary school. The new building […]
Seeking Thrills: Hershey Park’s First Roller Coaster
Hershey celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1923, and Milton Hershey’s present to the town was a new roller coaster for Hershey Park. Named the Wild Cat, it was nearly a mile in length and it had “more dips and deeper dips than any of like construction in America.” It was put into operation on June […]
Curry Mill Fire
Hershey published a weekly newspaper from 1909 to 1926. It is a wonderful resource for learning more about the community’s early years. Recently the Archives was able to have the newspaper digitized and indexed. The paper can be accessed through the Archives’ website, on the “Collections” page. The newspaper, The Hershey Press, was published under a variety of […]
Serving the Region: Hershey’s Service During the Three Mile Island Emergency
The accident at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station was the most significant accident in the history of the American commercial nuclear power generating industry. Though no one was injured, the accident caused a partial core meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor. The accident occurred just a weeks after “The China Syndrome,” a popular movie […]
The Past is Prologue: Hershey Museum
The newest incarnation of the Hershey Museum, The Hershey Story was dedicated on January 30. But having a museum in our community is not new. Milton Hershey intended to make his community an interesting and enjoyable place to live, work, and visit. In addition to endowing a school for orphaned boys, Hershey contributed millions of dollars for […]