Records indicate that Isaac Hershey, great-grandfather of Milton Hershey, purchased the Kinderhaus property circa 1800. The building is the oldest structure on the Milton Hershey School campus and one of the oldest homes in Derry Township. In 1826, Isaac Hershey constructed what would become The Homestead. Eventually, Kinderhaus became the property of Israel Hershey, a cousin of Milton Hershey. Milton Hershey purchased the Kinderhaus property from Israel Hershey in 1906. Though not a part of the original land granted to the Hershey Industrial School in 1909, it soon became part of the property and in 1912 became the first building dedicated solely to the housing of students. Kinderhaus, meaning Children’s Home in German, served as a student home until 1996. During this period the home underwent many physical changes, including removal of trees and the large front porch to accommodate the widening of Horseshoe Pike, now State Road 322, and the addition of a large frame addition to the rear in 1932. In April 2007, Kinderhaus became home to the Department of School History and the Milton Hershey School Heritage Center at Kinderhaus.