ToponymicaUS City Name Origins
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Person

Hershey

Pennsylvania (PA)est. 1903pop. 13,858/HUR-shee/

The meaning

“Surname, from Swiss-German Hirschi ('stag')”

How it got the name

Milton Hershey built an entire town around his chocolate factory in 1903 — houses, a trolley, a bank, a school for orphans. The post office was called Derry Church until residents voted for Hershey in 1906. It is one of the purest American company towns, right down to street lamps shaped like foil-wrapped kisses.

Former names

  1. Derry Church
  2. Hershey