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This post is part of our Big Company, Small Town series, featuring large companies and the small towns in which they are headquartered.
One might assume that chocolatier Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) got its name from the small Pennsylvania town it is located in, population 12,771. However, the truth of the matter is that the company is named after its founder, Milton S. Hershey, and that the town, which was formerly known as Derry Church, was renamed Hershey, Pennsylvania, in 1906 because of the popularity of the chocolate.
Milton Hershey built the milk processing plant he would use to make his milk chocolate in 1896 with profits he made from selling his caramel company, and three years later, in 1899, the "Hershey process" was born. In 1903, Hershey began construction of a chocolate plant in what would later become Hershey, Pennsylvania. The manufacturing plant, which now covers over two million square feet of manufacturing space, is now the largest chocolate factory in the world.
Just as important to the town's prosperity as the chocolate manufacturing plant is Hersheypark, an amusement park that is affiliated with the Hershey Company. The theme park is a huge employer for the town, a tourist attraction, and a branding device for the Hershey brand.
Hershey, Pennsylvania is truly a place where the company and the town have merged into a single identity. While there, you can tour Hershey's Chocolate World, Hershey Museum, and visit Hersheypark, all of which feature the history of both the company and the town, which will be forever intertwined.
Be sure to check out more Big Company, Small Town posts.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-23-2008 @ 6:00PM
John Moran said...
You forgot to add the Milton Hershey School which is one of its only kind in the world. Started by Milton Hershey in 1908 it is a year round FREE K-12 school for underprivileged kids. The school cares for more than 1200 children. It has endowment of more than $6 billion dollars, owns Hershey Park and the controlling interest in Hershey Foods.
6-23-2008 @ 12:07PM
L. Voyles said...
Hershey may still be an American Company but it is no longer an American product, America was distressed to see another American Icon leave our shores. I no longer purchase Hershy products as I used to since it moved to Mexico.
6-23-2008 @ 1:46PM
Flo Ball said...
I, too, no longer purchase Hershey products. If American workers are not OK with them and they have to move out of the country to make more money for their own pockets, I want nothing to do with them
6-23-2008 @ 5:17PM
Patti said...
Hershey was a great man -then company. I however lost faith when production moved to Mexico
6-25-2008 @ 7:42AM
orlenda said...
Dont forget Zoo America! It features all kinds of animals from north america-which is unique among zoos, and I think very cool to learn about my own "backyard". I am upset about them moving production to Mexico as well, its heart breaking and I know that Milton must be turning over in his grave. R.M. Palmer Candy in Reading PA is making some of Hershey's products, though. Chocolate World used to be so cool-but it has become very commercialized, and you see alot less informative stuff about the making of chocolate, and alot more singing cows...ugh.
6-26-2008 @ 11:51AM
Rita said...
Remember too that Milton Hershey funded the original building of the Milton Hershey Medical Center in Hershey. This is not only a great hospital but also a research center and part of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital Teaching System.
6-26-2008 @ 1:04PM
donvee said...
From a legal standpoint, Hershey PA is strictly a post office address. The actual governmental district is Derry Township PA
7-09-2008 @ 10:27AM
thomas a. smith said...
I am a stockholder and very disapointed that they would move to Mexico . Living in Clerwater , Florida and have large Mexican population . Most of the money they make here is sent by them to Mexico. The Mexican government from what we hear gets to it first and what do they do but send it out of Mexico. This hurts our country and economy as they use Euro dollors.