On The Square

From Hummelstown's founding days, the Square stood at the center of business and social activity and served as a visual focus and transportation crossroads. Street car service ran there between 1904 and 1946, with the Hummelstown and Campbelltown Street Railway Company providing transportation to Hershey, Palmyra, Campbelltown, and Lebanon, and the Central Pennsylvania Traction Company providing service between Hummelstown and Harrisburg. The first street car entered Hummelstown on the evening of October 15, 1904, and portions of the original trolley tracks remain below the existing street surface. A fountain in the center of the Square was created as a memorial honoring Henry Hershey and Nancy Landis Hershey and was erected in 1910 by their son, Henry Landis Hershey; the Square also had a working well until piped water was introduced. The memorial fountain was moved to Rosanna and Railroad Streets in 1925. An arch was erected in 1930 by John Bieber, then owner of Indian Echo Cave, and trolley cars passed under it with barely enough room before it was removed in 1955. A 50-year tradition of placing the Borough Christmas tree in the center of the Square ended in 1995.

Hummelstown, Pennsylvania · United States