Mon 9/11 to Wed 9/13/17 - Bluegrass, Rallies and more Rallies, Our Trip South

We stayed at the PA Dutch Country Campground, it is an Encore Thousand Trails park, for 3 nights. During our stay we played tourist at a few area attractions around and in Hershey, Cornwall and Lebanon. Oh, it is some beautiful country ... but fall is fast approaching!

We went to downtown Hershey Pennsylvania. It is popularly called "Chocolatetown, USA" it is also referred to as "The Sweetest Place on Earth." The community is home to The Hershey Company, which makes the well-known Hershey Bar and Hershey's Kisses. Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company owns and operates Hersheypark, Hersheypark Stadium, and other attractions such as ZooAmerica and Hershey Gardens, and is a major employer of the community and surrounding area. I heard that you can smell the chocolate in the air and yes you can ... but my bubble was burst when someone told me it was a scent in the light poles that gives off the scent!

Hershey's Chocolate World was built as a replacement of the Hershey chocolate plant tour, which had reached its capacity and was no longer able to handle the large numbers of visitors per year. The facility opened on June 30, 1973, and took inspiration from World's Fair pavilions. Through its first year of operations, Chocolate World had over 1.4 million visitors. By June of 1986, the visitor's center welcomed its 20 millionth visitor. The building features brownstone quarried out of Hummelstown, a neighboring town. 

Inside, we enjoyed reading about the history of Hershey. The walkway to get to the Chocolate Tour was long, and we could have zipped right through it. But we took our time reading everything chocolate! Well, not everything ... since Hershey does make Twizzlers! 

On the Hershey’s Chocolate Tour and followed cocoa beans on a delicious journey in an immersive chocolate making adventure. We could see, feel, hear and smell the transformation of cocoa beans to Hershey’s famous chocolate on this fun tour. We rode in a cart, like in an amusement ride and followed the cocoa bean through the process!

We walked through the largest candy store offering an abundance of Hershey’s favorites including a sweet array of seasonal treats, classic varieties and Hershey’s Chocolate World exclusives. The two things I wanted, we could not find … salt & pepper shakers and a sticker for the camper! It was much more commercialized than I had hoped for, but it was not crowed the day we went and I am glad we did it!

On our way to and back from Hershey, we passed through the Milton Hershey School, you know me … I had to learn more! The Milton Hershey School is a private philanthropic boarding school. Originally named the Hershey Industrial School, the institution was founded and funded by chocolate industrialist Milton Snavely Hershey and his wife, Catherine Sweeney Hershey. The school was originally established for impoverished male orphans, while today it serves students of various backgrounds. The school currently serves more than 2,000 students, it is the largest residential education program in the US.

The Milton Hershey School Trust, which funds the school, owns controlling interest in The Hershey Company and owns the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company. With over twelve billion dollars in assets, the Milton Hershey School is one of the wealthiest schools in the world. Hershey spends about $110,000 a year per student, according to its nonprofit IRS tax filing, more than the nation's most expensive and elite prep schools. On November 15, 1909, Hershey signed over the 486-acre farm where he had been born, complete with livestock, to start the school. In 1910, Nelson (age 6), and his brother Irvin (age 4) were the first to arrive. Their father, who had worked as a polisher in a Mount Joy foundry, had died after a long illness, and their mother couldn’t support six children by taking in laundry. Their brother William, 2, was too young to be admitted for two more years. Another pair of brothers, sons of an Evangelical church’s pastor, arrived a few days later. The first class consisted of 10 students, and by 1914, there were 40 boys enrolled in the school.

While Hershey consulted with experts on managing the school, he used three guiding principles to ensure the students had a good education, a sense of stability and security: every graduate should have a vocation, every student should learn love of God and man, and every student should benefit from wholesome responsibility. The vocational education program started with a woodworking shop, where the boys made their own beds and chests. Starting in March 1929, the boys got the responsibility of doing daily chores in the dairy barns. 

After Kitty’s death in 1915, Hershey gave his entire personal fortune - thousands of acres of land, and controlling interest in the company, worth US$60 million - to the school. He continued to be involved in the school’s operations until his death in 1945. The organizational papers were modified in 1933, allowing the school to accept older students, and again in 1951 to change the name of the school from the “Hershey Industrial School” to the “Milton Hershey School.” In 1968, the school was racially integrated, although it wasn’t until 1970 that the organizational papers allowed that, and another modification in 1976 allowed female students, who started arriving in 1977. In 1989, the school stopped requiring students to milk cows twice daily, reflecting a changed focus from vocational to college preparatory education, but students were still required to perform chores.

We also visited Cornwall Furnace in Lebanon, Charlie said it was too hot to go see a furnace! The Cornwall Iron Furnace is an amazing example of the furnaces that scattered the Pennsylvania countryside in the 18th and 19th centuries. Around them developed villages, artisans’ shops, stores, schools, churches, and the home of the wealthy ironmaster. All of the raw materials necessary for the smelting process — iron ore, limestone and wood for charcoal, were found in this self-contained iron plantation. Cornwall Iron Furnace, the only surviving intact charcoal cold blast furnace in the Western Hemisphere, attests to the once great iron industry that flourished in south central Pennsylvania.

In the 1730s, Peter Grubb, a stone mason, began mining nearby. In 1742, he established the furnace. He named the area Cornwall in honor of the area in England from where his father had emigrated. Although the British Parliament attempted in 1750 to restrict production of iron in the colonies, the output continued to rise. The American colonies, with Pennsylvania being the top producer, smelted one-seventh of the world’s iron. When Peter died in 1754, the property passed to his sons, Curtis and Peter. By 1798, Robert Coleman had gained control of the furnace operation. Robert was very successful and became one of Pennsylvania’s first millionaires. This furnace remained in operation until 1883, when newer furnace operations fueled by anthracite coal made it obsolete. The furnace was abandoned, leaving the building virtually untouched until it was given in 1932 to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by Margaret Coleman Freeman Buckingham, Robert’s great grand-daughter.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Cornwall’s iron plantation contained industrial, residential, and agricultural activities. Small villages were created for furnace workers and miners. These stone and brick structures were simple in style but sturdy in construction. Many other structures built during this time period use a Gothic Revival architectural style. The ore mine, which continued to operate until 1973, is located just south of the furnace property. Bethlehem Steel acquired ownership of the mine between 1917 and 1922. Both strip mining and underground mining were used to extract ore from the ground. The open pit mine began to flood in 1972, and today the open pit is filled with water.

Speaking of Robert Coleman, the Cornwall-Lebanon Railroad was built with $1.2 million in the 1880s by this rich socialite. The railroad was used to carry passengers from Mt. Gretna, an extremely popular resort community of the time. Later the railroad was used to transport the Pennsylvania National Guard from their camp near Mt. Gretna. As time went on the railroad service stopped, which resulted in the rail being purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad. This group continued use of the rail up until the powerful Hurricane Agnes devastated Lebanon County. The hurricane destroyed sections of the track in 1972. But, until the purchase of the track in 1999 the rail was certain sections were unused. Other sections were purchased by private individuals or used on the original property in which the right of way was leased. The Lebanon Valley Rails to Trails, Inc., led by John Wengert Jr., purchased the rail line and began construction of the Lebanon Valley Rails to Trails. 

Too bad we did not bring the bikes this summer! The Lebanon Valley Rail Trail (LVRT) is a National Recreation Trail. The rail trail goes from the southwestern border of Lebanon County and goes through Colebrook, Mt. Gretna, Cornwall, and the city of Lebanon. At the southern border of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania the LVRT connects with the Conewago Trail and continues for another 5.5 miles. The trail is partly built on the old Cornwall–Lebanon Railroad. The trail runs 14.5 miles, and there are many phases in development that would extend the trail to northern Lebanon County and Jonestown. The trail features a packed stone path and paved path at many parts that traverses "Pennsylvania Dutch Country" and other scenic routes. Trail users see untouched woodlands of state game lands, forests, and views of area fields and farms. The trail is maintained by dedicated group of volunteers, and allows for running, walking, biking, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing. We drove under one of the old rail road tunnels on Burd Coleman Road. You can see the original brick arch, especially on the south end. It was built around the 1860's and is still open to traffic. Overhead the former railroad bed is now the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail.

There was an over-sized root beer barrel at one of the rest areas on the trail. It was closed while we were there, but it looked like it might be a refreshment center. We also enjoyed one meal out at the Quentin Diner. It is a Mom & Pop style diner that was awesome! Charlie had Turkey and gravy, imagine that! I had the Cobb Salad. Both were delicious!