The Other Hershey – It’s Also A Cuban Thing

I recently read an article about Cuba opening an outdoor railroad museum in Havana just outside the Central Railway Station.  It seems that  Cuba, along with Great Britan, the United States and Germany, was one of the frist countries in the world to establish a railway system.  In the 19th. century Cuba was the major producer of sugar and it needed a rail network to move its sugar cane production.

American sugar companies established large industrial sites called “centrales,” or sugar mills along these rail networks to process the sugar cane harvest.  Many of these “centrales” were built near the growing fields away from populated areas.  In order to get the workers to the production sites some sugar companies built housing areas near the “centrales.”  Eventually some of these “centrales” grew to the size of towns such Central Chaparra, Central Delicias, (where my parents came from) and Central Hershey, owned by Hershey Chocolate.

Central Hershey was located between Matanzas and Havana.  Under the leadership of their founder Milton Hershey, not only did the Hershey Company build houses for their employees,  they also added an electric passenger rail line to take their employees back and forth between the two cities. This rail line, which is still in operation today, is known as The Hershey Train and it is also a part of the Cuban Thing.

The Hershey Cuban Electric Railway began passenger service between Matanzas and “Central Hershey” in January of 1922.  Ten months later it was extended to Casablanca, a suburb of Havana.  Due to a dispute with United Railways, an English company that over saw the rail services within Havana Province, the Hershey Train was not allowed into the city of Havana.  Nonetheless, the rail line prospered and within two years had seventeen passenger cars and seven locomotives.

To ride the train today is a slow process.  The locomotives and passenger cars are in a constant state of disrepair.  The ride through the hills and sugarcane fields that are now abandoned is rough, but unforgettable.  Often being interrupted by unscheduled stops to allow field hands with their wagon loads and other forms of traffic to cross the tracks.

Milton Hershey built his sugar mill near the town of Santa Cruz in the Province of La Habana.  There he built a “batey” or town for his workers on a hill top overlooking the Caribbean Sea.  The town was made up of cottages with front porches and tile roofs.  It had a clinic, a pharmacy, a grocery and butcher shop.  It was almost identical in appearance to the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania.  The town had its own power plant with sewers and running water. There even was an amusement park.

Though the name has been changed to Camilo Cienfuegos, a Cuban revolutionary hero, the town of Hershey, Cuba is still in exsistance today.  Many of the buildings and cottages are in need of repair just like the rest of the country. The exterior of the Hershey Hotel still stands, but its interrior has been gutted.  The Hershey Gardens are overgrown.  One can still see the towering smokestacks of the sugar mill, though it is now  being converted to making pasta and ceramics products.  And the Hershey Train still lumbers along with its antiquated cars, making its way between Matanzas and Havana.

Though Americans are not permitted to visit Hershey, Cuba, they can visit Hershey, Pennsylvania and the historic Hershey Musuem.  There, in a small corner of the musuem, one can find many interesting facts, old photograhs and memorabilia of the other Hershey town, “Central Hershey.”  If a visit is not possible you can read all about it in the Hershey Community Archives.

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