Minetown was a themed area added to Hersheypark in 1990 along with two other themed areas. This area was a combination of the Contemporary named area and the Tower Plaza themed area, along with the originally planned area for Minetown – the area around Coal Cracker and the Sky Ride Minetown station (removed after the 1991 season).
The new theme area included the addition of three kiddie rides (Convoy, Dinosaur-Go-Round, and Red Baron) replacing what had been the Coal Shaker, and the replacement of Himalaya in favor of the Flying Falcon. The penny arcade, the oldest building in Hersheypark dating back to 1905, was unable to be renovated and so was torn down and replaced by a larger arcade and restaurant building.
In 1998, Great Bear was added to the Minetown area, with the station located partially where the Sky Ride station had been. The area was minorly improved aside from that, the only exception being the Dinosaur-Go-Round was relocated to Founder’s Circle to accommodate the relocation of Frog Hopper from Midway America, in 2006.
In 2014, the park rethemed Minetown as Kissing Tower Hill, reviving the Tower Plaza theme a bit.
To read more about this region, here is another article of interest: