User:Hmich176/Hersheypark/West Derry Road

This is a page about properties Hersheypark acquired through its parent company Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company previously known as HERCO, Inc., and Hershey Estates. These properties along West Derry Road were primarily acquired between 1970 and 1976, with the first few in the years before and the last few in the years after up to 1981.

The main list, in the table below, has 26 properties. In some cases, the properties were actually one half of a 2.5 story home which was split into a duplex. In another case, one deed was tied to three properties. The history of these properties can get some what complicated, as some properties were split from others as they were transferred to children of prior owners. An example would be that a father split a tract of land from his property so his son and his son's wife could build a house for themselves.

Some homes were owned by Hershey Estates and were rented to tenants. This is listed below the main table.

There are other addresses of interest along West Derry Road which includes Historic Hersheypark Arena, the 1972 entrance to Hersheypark, and Hershey Park Golf Course (later Parkview Golf Course). These and others can be found below the main table.

History of West Derry Road and Old Derry Road
West Derry Road began as a road connecting the boroughs of Palmyra and Hummelstown. It was built on property that was first established in 1741. 279 acres of land were sold from the honorable proprietaries of Pennsylvania, John Penn and Richard Penn, the sons of William Penn, to James Campbell.

Over time, as the land was transferred from one generation to the next, the land was slowly sold off into different pieces. Eventually, the Nissley farm comes into existence. In the 1840s, Martin L. Nissley creates the Village of Spring Creek, and makes the road from Hummelstown to Palmyra, Main Street. By 1900, this village remained small. With Milton S. Hershey developing a new town approximately a mile away (the town of Hershey), the Village of Spring Creek was absorbed by the new town and fell into obscurity. Hershey purchased some of the properties on the south side of Main Street, building new houses to rent. A few of the properties on Main Street were purchased from the estate of John Nissley.

The Main Street name for the road was changed around 1910. Main Street was renamed Old Derry Road from Hockersville Road to Park Boulevard (Park Boulevard was created in 1910) and the rest of the road from Park Boulevard to Park Avenue was renamed West Derry Road. At some point the Old Derry Road name more or less disappeared, with the entire road from Hockersville Road to Park Avenue being known as West Derry Road. In 1972, the segment of West Derry Road between Park Boulevard and Park Avenue was closed, when Hershey Estates, the company which owned Hersheypark, and Derry Township, rerouted Park Boulevard partly along West Derry Road. A segment of West Derry Road survived, between the 1972 Park Boulevard alignment and Hockersville Road, until 2002, when the remainder of West Derry Road was closed. This was due to the construction of the Giant Center. Today, only East Derry Road remains.

West Derry Road properties owned by HE&R
To see a larger table with inflation included from each year a house was sold, see Inflation breakout.

Old Derry Road
Several homes were constructed on a part of West Derry Road known as Old Derry Road. Milton S. Hershey purchased the land that included these homes in 1910 and laid out a plan of 7 lots on what was called the Wagner farm after purchasing the property. Most of these houses were rented by the Hershey Chocolate Company to individuals, and two homes were purchased outright. One of the rented houses was where Pronio's Market started in 1919 - Pronio's is still operating on Caracas Avenue in Hershey today.

One property below, 36 Old Derry Road, was sold to Hershey Estates for $1.00 in 1939 ($ in current US dollars). In trying to find the actual value of the property, the value is estimated based off the United States Internal Revenue realty transfer tax of that year.

Other homes on Old Derry Road
The 1950 United States Census, released on April 1, 2022, provides greater detailed information of the people who lived on Old Derry Road in that year.

Homes which appear on the 1950 Census are below.

Rentals
Most properties on the south side of West Derry Road, houses which had even numbers, were owned by Hershey Estates and were rentals. Only the few even numbered addresses in the main list above were not primarily owned by Hershey Estates until the 1960s or 1970s.

Rental units from tax rolls, other records
These are properties owned by Hershey Estates in 1938, per tax rolls from 1938. These homes were rented to individuals or families. They were torn down sometime between the late-1960s and the mid-1970s.


 * 20-22 West Derry Road
 * 24-26 West Derry Road
 * 28-30 West Derry Road
 * 40-42 West Derry Road
 * 76 West Derry Road

These are properties owned by Hershey Estates in 1935, per tax rolls from 1935.


 * 36 West Derry Road

These are properties owned by Hershey Estates, per Hershey-Derry Township Historical Society records.


 * 117 West Derry Road - William Mann
 * 119 West Derry Road - John Jefferies

Several lots on Old Derry Road were rented by the Hershey Chocolate Company. One lot was the home of Pronio's Market, before the market relocated elsewhere in Hershey, from 1919 until sometime in the 1920s.

Addresses of interest on West Derry Road / Old Derry Road

 * 10 West Derry Road - Cassel's Grocery
 * This was a grocery store on the corner of West Derry Road and Park Avenue.


 * 79 West Derry Road - Castelli's Hotel
 * Castelli's Hotel operated as a restaurant called C's from 1940-1945, with a dance room called Jitterbug Place in the basement. In 1945, Dionzio Castelli, owner of C's, applied for a liquor license. As a result of such establishments of the time having a requirement of boarding rooms, Castelli added 12 hotel rooms to the establishment. C's was renamed Castelli's Hotel and operated until 1964. The hotel closed at that time when Castelli decided to quit the business. The building was sold to Hershey Estates on April 16, 1964.

Other addresses of interest on West Derry Road
These are other addresses on West Derry Road that are part of the property that is Hershey Entertainment Complex.


 * 136 West Derry Road - Hersheypark Arena
 * 248 West Derry Road - Hershey Baking Company Experimental Bakery & Candy Kitchen
 * Parkside Apartments - Parkside Apartments (no physical address is given, although it is on West Derry Road)
 * Hershey Park Golf Club Clubhouse - West Derry Road (no number is given, though the building address was 300 Park Boulevard from 1972-2017)
 * Hershey Park Golf Club (Parkview Golf Course) - West Derry Road (no number is given, though the Course address was 600 Park Boulevard from 1972-2005; it was likely 600 West Derry Road)

In 1958

 * 631 West Derry Road - Claude E Harris
 * 641 West Derry Road - Marshall Heilman
 * 645 West Derry Road - Angelo Vieli

History of properties on West Derry Road
See: History of Properties on West Derry Road

See: Complete List of Properties on West Derry Road

See: Village of Spring Creek aka Springville

List of Deeds
Deeds are found via Dauphin County Recorder of Deeds.

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