There’s a destination out there for every kind of food lover. Collegedale, Tennessee has Little Debbie Park, where fans can climb and pose with life-sized replicas of the famous Little Debbie snacks. Atlanta, Georgia is home to Coca-Cola World, a cafe and discovery lab where soda obsessors can learn how to make Coca-Cola. But, how many food brands can boast an entire town and theme park named in their honor? Hersheypark and the surrounding town of Hershey, Pennsylvania was created by Milton Hershey, candy maker and inventor of Hershey’s chocolate, to provide his employees with a more pleasant living and working environment.
When Hersheypark first opened in 1906, the original idea behind it was to promote simplicity and relaxation. Hershey developed Hersheypark as a prime location for water activities, creating a dazzling lake on Spring Creek where his employees could enjoy a peaceful boat or canoe ride. The park was full of beautiful, towering trees and acres of wooded groves to provide shady picnic and walking spots. At first, the park only consisted of a few main buildings and a pavilion, but within a few years of opening, it grew to include a merry-go-round, an amphitheater, bowling alleys, tennis courts, a scenic railroad, a carousel, and much more. Over 100 years later, Milton Hershey’s vision of creating a factory town like no other still rings true today.
Hershey’s vision for a place of escape became a landmark amusement park
Three years before opening Hersheypark, Milton Hershey purchased a chocolate factory and 400 acres of land in rural Pennsylvania to operate his new Hershey Chocolate Company. As Hershey laid out the plans for his facilities and township, he specifically zoned off 150 acres of land to transform into a space where his employees could unwind. The park rapidly expanded in the years after opening, growing to include even more amusements and rides. Keep in mind — this was decades before Walt Disney opened Disneyland, so the sprawling Hersheypark amusement rides were like nothing the public had ever seen.
Hershey’s intention in creating a space for his residents to rejuvenate was posted clearly for all to see, with an entrance sign that read “Ye who enter here leave dull cares behind.” What began as a simple leisure park quickly evolved into an expansive amusement park as visitor numbers increased by the season. Hersheypark is still going strong today, with over a dozen roller and water coasters, interactive gaming rides, a new Hershey’s Chocolatetown, and more plans for expansion in the future. According to the Hershey website, Milton S. Hershey’s mother thought that opening a park was a “frivolous” idea, but we can all thank him for ignoring that particular piece of maternal advice and continuing with his plans for Hersheypark anyway.
