Hershey History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones

Milton S. Hershey

The Hershey Company possesses arguably the most well-known, utopian founding story in American industrial history, rooted in the persistence of a man who failed notably before inventing the modern American chocolate industry. The company was founded by Milton S. Hershey. His early career was characterized by heavy failure. He started two separate candy companies (in Philadelphia and New York) that both ended in bankruptcy. Finally, in 1886, he returned to his home state of Pennsylvania and founded the Lancaster Caramel Company, which became a profitable success. However, his foundational key move occurred at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where he saw a fascinating demonstration of German chocolate-making machinery. He had an epiphany: caramels were a fad, but chocolate was a permanent fixture. He famously sold his lucrative caramel company for an astonishing $1 million in 1900 to focus entirely on chocolate. At the time, milk chocolate was a luxury, exclusively produced in Switzerland (by Nestle) using expensive processes. Hershey wanted to mass-produce it for the American working class. He spent years experimenting to boil milk and sugar in a vacuum to prevent it from spoiling, finally inventing the distinct, slightly tangy 'Hershey Process.' But his most legacy was not just the candy; it was the town. He used his wealth to build 'Hershey, Pennsylvania', an utopian company town complete with subsidized housing, public transit, schools, and a well-known amusement park for his workers. He eventually placed the majority of the company's voting stock into a trust to perpetually fund the Milton Hershey School for orphaned children, ensuring his philanthropic vision permanently controls the corporate empire. Milton S. Hershey was born in 1857 in Derry Township.