Hersheypark History Group turns 3!

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Okay, so I’m only kidding on that. I actually started the Hersheypark History Group on February 29, 2012. It’s really eleven years old, and 2020 was the third time we could acknowledge the anniversary on the actual date. The History Group is the direct forerunner to this website. If I never started that Facebook group, I would never have this website.

This image below was the first image I posted to the Hersheypark History Group when I made this group on February 29, 2012. This is an advertisement that appeared in The Patriot-News in April 1970.

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Hersheypark…A Happy Experience | May 7, 1972

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Phase I Opens.

Printed on May 7, 1972, in The Patriot-News, was a special features section all about the grand opening of the new Hersheypark (although it was renamed a year earlier in 1971). Below was the front page of that section which displays one of the first prominent appearances of the Hersheypark pinwheel logo.

When the park opened, there was a ceremony in which dignitaries and invited guests were in attendance. The ceremony was held in Carrousel Circle, the most prominent of the three new themed regions added to the park. The guests were paraded from the entrance of the park – for the 1972 season, located at the northern end of the park, adjacent the Dry Gulch Railroad station and the main lobby (Lobby 1) of Hersheypark Arena – to the edge of Carrousel Circle in Der Deitschplatz, another of the new themed areas (the third themed area added was the Animal Garden).

After the ceremony, normal operations began for the day. New rides to open included the Twin Towers Toboggans, Scrambler and Monster. This would be the start of the last month and a half of operations for the Philadelphia Toboggan Company water toboggan ride, The Lost River, which would be destroyed in the flood of 1972 in June. This would also be the last year of operations for the last funhouse, Funland, the Aeroaffiliates ride Flying Coaster, and the Magic Carpet Giant Slide.

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Hersheypark Maps | 1972 – 1988

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If you’re interested in seeing how Hersheypark evolved between the 70s and 80s, here is a video showing the maps of the park for every season between 1972 and 1988 (with the exception of 1976, because a map was never produced that season).

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Hersheypark on the Bicentennial

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Here’s an advertisement printed on July 4, 1976, from the construction services companies that worked for Hersheypark during the the 1970s renovations. They were congratulating Hersheypark on its 70th anniversary. The construction services companies seen here are: H.B. Alexander & Son, Inc., Kimbob, Inc., G.R. Sponaugle & Sons, Inc., and John B. Minnich & Son, Inc. The map of the Park used in this advertisement was from 1973, and was printed in a special section celebrating the 70th Anniversary of Hersheypark in The Patriot-News on July 4, 1976.

The usage of the 1973 map is somewhat out of the ordinary given this map misses having rides added in 1974 and 1975 which were the Sky Ride, Trailblazer, Twin Turnpike, and most notably, Kissing Tower.

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