Milton Hershey's World
- Resource Type
- Authors
- McMahon
- Source
- Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 88:548-585
- Subject
- History
- Language
- ISSN
- 2153-2109
0031-4528
The physical and cultural landscape created by well-known confectioner and philanthropist Milton Hershey in the model community of Hershey provides a case study for the interrelationship between architecture and identity over time. Borrowing heavily from his own Pennsylvania German background, Hershey created a vernacular landscape that also reflected the cultural identity of a majority of those already living in the area. Since Milton Hershey's death in 1945, community stakeholders have struggled to strike a balance between preserving this legacy and encouraging responsible growth. This article explores how contemporary stakeholders might best create a modern cultural landscape that is both sustainable and welcoming and the role vernacular architecture has played—and might continue to play—in the ongoing negotiation between tradition and modernity.