America is famous for being famous. It seems that no matter where you go, whatever town you find yourself in, it’s famous for something. It could be one of the many birthplaces of a President or king. Or it could be that a town is famous for a particular food. There are some places like Detroit and Hollywood that are known as industry towns where several different manufacturers are essentially making the same kind of product. But what about the company towns? These were the towns built around a specific manufacturing plant or factory. The companies that created these towns needed a place for their workers to live, shop, eat, worship and send their kids to school. A happy town is a productive town.
One of the first true company towns was Pullman, Illinois. George Pullman was the designer and manufacturer of the luxury Pullman railroad car. The first train cars Pullman built were so luxurious that they didn’t even fit on the tracks. Back to the drawing board George went and hit the mark when a Pullman car was used in the funeral train of President Lincoln. In 1880, George decided to build a town to house his employees and managers. He bought four thousand acres in a suburb of Chicago and set out to design a town every bit as accommodating as his train cars. The first citizens of Pullman were treated to elegant homes, a man-made lake and retail center known as the Arcade which became the model of our modern day shopping center.
In 1909, the town of McDonald, Ohio was created. I know what you’re thinking- no, this wasn’t the home of the Big Mac. McDonald was the company town built by the Carnegie Steel Company. The site of the town was perfect for the steel mills because it bordered on the Mahoning River and Ohio railroads. In 1941, Carnegie Steel became US Steel and the entire town of McDonald was bought by one developer who added street after street of pre-fabricated homes (imagine – pre-fab homes in 1941?). The steel mill continued to flourish. In the 80’s, the entire steel industry took a major hit but McDonald dug in its heels and set up off-peak shifts to save on the electric bill. It paid off and the mill stayed afloat. In the early 90’s, the steel workers rejected the call to unionize and kept the mill running. Today the town is known as “Ohio’s finest village.” (Who knows? Maybe he should also be known as the father of alternative work schedules.)
In what is billed as the “Sweetest Place on Earth” Hershey, PA is the town that chocolate built. In 1903, Milton Hershey began construction on the world’s largest chocolate factory. Feeling a strong sense of moral and social responsibility, Milton went on to design the surrounding company town to house his workers. Worried that they might not have anything to do on their days off, Hershey built the Hershey Amusement Park in 1907 that was chock full of rides, swimming pools and fun for the whole family, nutty or not. Who wouldn’t love a boss like that? A major expansion of the town of Hershey occurred during the Great Depression and provided jobs for hundreds of workers. As any lover of chocolate or satisfied occupant of the town liking chocolate or not will tell you, Hershey is still very much in business and the company town is an exceptional place to live and work.
If ever there was a company town built on dreams, it would have to be Lake Buena Vista. This is the home to Walt Disney World and was first conceived as a company town by Walt Disney. In the early 60’s, Walt Disney decided to expand on the success of his California-based Disneyland Amusement Park by building a bigger park in Florida. Part of Walt’s dream was to create an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. This was to become the ultimate in company towns. Sadly, Walt passed away before he could see any of these dreams come true. Lake Buena Vista (named for the street where Disney Studios in Burbank lived) is the company town formed in 1967 to support all the workers and managers who are employed by the Disney Company at Disney World. As for Walt’s Community Of Tomorrow, that has evolved into the popular EPCOT theme park. Today, in the new modern town of Celebration, Florida has incorporated a lot of Walt’s original vision in the design of a company town.
The success of Celebration and other company towns is to create a strong sense of community and support for the citizens. Company towns are part of the rich fabric that makes up America. What’s your town’s story? Do you know it? If not, why not research it and tell us all about it? We’d love to hear it.
— Meyer
