The history of the HERSHEY'S milk chocolate bar can’t be told without telling the story of Milton S. Hershey. In 1900, Milton S. Hershey developed the recipe for what would become a great American classic. He was driven by the belief that everyone should be able to enjoy the great taste of milk chocolate, something at the time only enjoyed by the wealthy. So he returned to his birthplace, Derry Church, PA (later to be named Hershey, PA) and located his chocolate manufacturing operation in the heart of Pennsylvania’s dairy country. Here he could obtain the large supplies of fresh milk needed to make pure milk chocolate. What he built turned out to be the world’s largest chocolate factory.

In 1909 Hershey's chocolate provided the means to establish a unique educational system that still thrives today, and is the legacy of Milton Hershey. Saddened because they had no children of their own, the Hersheys were anxious to put their growing chocolate profits to better use. Together with his wife, Catherine, he established the most prominent of his philanthropic endeavours - the Hershey Industrial School - in 1909. Now called Milton Hershey School, the 10,000-acre school houses and provides education for nearly 1,100 children whose family lives have been disrupted.