Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company

Predecessors

In 1894, Milton S. Hershey founded the Hershey Chocolate Company as a subsidiary of his Lancaster Caramel Company. In 1900, the American Caramel Company offered to purchase the Lancaster Caramel Company for $1 million. Hershey accepted the offer, maintaining ownership of the Hershey Chocolate Company. In 1903, Hershey began purchasing land in Derry Township, Pennsylvania, not far from the family homestead he owned, to create a company town for his proposed chocolate factory. To build the structures of the town, Hershey created a subsidiary company called the Hershey Improvement Company. This company was the predecessor to Hershey Entertainment and Resorts. After the factory was completed and put in operation in 1904, the Hershey Improvement Company turned toward building the town, which included homes, stores and parks. Hershey Park was opened on May 30, 1906, with a dance hall pavilion, band shell for shows, tennis courts and a baseball field with a grand stand available for sporting events. As the park gained popularity, further improvements were made, such as a grand entrance for the park in 1916.

In 1905, Hershey created the Hershey Trust Company to provide banking to the town of Hershey. In 1909, Hershey and his wife Catherine, who were unable to have children, established the Hershey Industrial School for orphan boys (renamed the Milton Hershey School in 1951). Hershey created a deed of trust establishing a trust fund for the school. He named the Hershey Trust Company as administrator of the school trust. In 1918, three years after Catherine Hershey died, Hershey transferred nearly all of his assets, including his control of the chocolate company, and various other entities, to the school. This made the Hershey Trust Company owner of the Hershey Improvement Company.

In 1920, Hershey experienced financial difficulty following the collapse in sugar futures. Hershey was forced to sign a promissory note from National City Bank to keep the chocolate company in business. Under the terms of the note, National City Bank sent R.J. DeCamp to be on the board of managers, to assume management of the company. DeCamp remained on the board until 1922, when the company settled the debt. During that time period, DeCamp prevented substantial improvements to the park or the town, as it was considered too costly an investment. Once Hershey regained control of the company, this made him realize that he should split his operations such that if the chocolate company ever failed again as it had, it wouldn't directly impact the town as the DeCamp period had.

Hershey Estates established

In 1927, the Hershey Chocolate Company was reorganized and divided into several independent entities under the ownership of Hershey Trust Company. The chocolate company was incorporated and renamed Hershey Chocolate Corporation (today known as The Hershey Company) on October 24. (A prior company called Hershey Chocolate Corporation existed in the early 1920s when National City Bank took control of Hershey Chocolate Company.) On October 30, the company became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. The Cuban businesses held within the chocolate company were spun out into a wholly privately owned company called Hershey Corporation. The Hershey Industrial School remained a separate interest.