Issued to Milton S. Hershey Trust Co. - Hershey Chocolate related Northern Central Railway Co. - Not Signed - 1953-57 dated Railroad Stock Certificate

Milton Snavely Hershey, born on September 13, 1857, was an American chocolatier, businessman, and philanthropist. Trained in the confectionery business, Hershey pioneered the manufacture of caramel using fresh milk. He established the Lancaster Caramel Company, which achieved bulk exports, and later sold it to launch a new company that produced mass-produced milk chocolate, previously a luxury item. The first Hershey bars were sold in 1900 and gained immense popularity, allowing Hershey to establish his own company town in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Hershey’s philanthropy extended to a boarding school, initially designed for local orphans, but now accommodating around 2,000 students as of 2016. During World War II, the company developed a special non-melting bar for troops serving overseas. Today, the Hershey Company, renowned as Hershey’s, stands as one of the world’s largest confectionery manufacturers.

The Northern Central Railway (NCRY), a Class I railroad, connected Baltimore, Maryland, with Sunbury, Pennsylvania, along the Susquehanna River. Completed in 1858, the line came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1861. The PRR acquired a controlling interest in the Northern Central’s stock to compete with the rival Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). For eleven decades, the Northern Central operated as a subsidiary of the PRR until Hurricane Agnes washed out much of its Maryland trackage in 1972. As a result, most of its operations ceased as the Penn Central declined to repair the damaged sections. Today, the Northern Central is a fallen flag railway, having been acquired by the later Penn Central (the merger of the PRR and the New York Central), Conrail, and subsequently broken apart and disestablished. The northern part of Pennsylvania is now the York County Heritage Rail Trail, which connects to a similar hike/bike trail in Northern Maryland, the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail. Trackage around Baltimore remains in rail service, and most of the trackage in Pennsylvania is operated by Norfolk Southern. The southernmost section in Pennsylvania is operated by the Northern Central heritage railway.