Holly Bros. Tinfoil Wrapper, modified for clarity. Courtesy of Theodore Smith, grandson of Charles and Elizabeth Holly

Holly's Hill Park Interpretive Sign
September 13, 2024–September 13, 2025
In 1884, Charles and Theodore Holly established Holly Bros. Cheese Corp. to expand their father’s prosperous Handkäse enterprise near Philadelphia. They packed their hand-shaped cheeses in wooden boxes for distribution to major cities in the Northeast and Midwest. The cherished Souderton business flourished until operations ceased after the Great Depression.
Souderton, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1894, by T. M. Fowler and James B. Moyer. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division (left) and Souderton, Pa., 1924, by Sanborn Map Company. Public Domain via Penn State University Libraries Digital Collections, cropped (right)
Two years after moving from Hilltown Township in Bucks County to Souderton, the Holly Bros. Hand Cheese factory, marked as number 14 and outlined in yellow, appeared on a 1894 bird’s-eye view map of the town. Thirty years later, the factory, along with the home of Charles and Elizabeth Holly, was shown on a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. These maps, used from 1867 to the 1990s, helped insurance companies evaluate fire risk by displaying land uses, street names, utilities, and building shapes, heights, and functions.

Charles and Elizabeth Holly House in Souderton, shown before 1924. Courtesy of Dolores Schiffer, granddaughter of Charles and Elizabeth Holly

This photo of the Charles and Elizabeth Holly house in Souderton still hangs in my grandparents’ farmhouse near Gettysburg. Along with stories of Holly Bros. Cheese Corp., it’s the starting point for my fascination with the Holly family history. Martha Holly, my great-grandmother, grew up there, and in 1931, celebrated her marriage to Joseph Weiss there.
The Souderton-Telford Historical Society believes it was designed by Milton B. Bean (1849–1938), an architect who lived in Lansdale since 1880 and is best known for his residential projects, especially Lindenwold Castle for Dr. Richard V. Mattison of Ambler.
Old English Text, based on William Caslon's 1760 design and resembling German-style Fraktur blackletter, was used for panel titles, inspired by a Holly Bros. cheese wrapper. Helvetica Neue was chosen for the body text because of its readability.
Graphic panel narrating the story of Holly Bros. Hand Cheese.
Graphic panel narrating the story of Holly House.
Descendants of Charles and Elizabeth Holly, including Dolores Schiffer, Donna Scott, Scott Clowney, and Theodore Smith, are pictured with Thomas Clowney, husband of the late Joanne (née Weiss, 1933–2020), Mayer Daniel L. Yocum of Souderton Borough, and Cory Alderfer of the Souderton-Telford Historical Society at the unveiling event on September 13, 2025.
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Objective_
Connect visitors at Holly’s Hill Park—named after my ancestors—with the history and legacy of Holly Bros. Hand Cheese and the home of Charles and Elizabeth Holly.
Approach_
This self-directed project involved exploring my family's heritage and telling their story through an interpretive sign. I conducted research, wrote a script, selected images, and designed two panels—one showcasing their cheese-making business and the other highlighting the family.
Green was chosen as the primary color scheme, inspired by the name "Holly" and the four-acre site that the borough preserved as a public park. The background was set to a gradient to add variety to the field and create contrast for the text. The panels were organized into 50-word paragraphs with brief captions, making the Holly story easy to understand. Photos were collected from family members and the local historical society.
Lancaster Farming, Holly Bros. ‘Handkäse’ Once a Souderton Staple, by Sue Bowman, October 19, 2025.
Farmshine, Cheese-making commemorated at Holly Hill Park, by Dieter Krieg, September 26, 2025.
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Roles: Project Management, Research, Content Development, Visual Design
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Site: Holly’s Hill Park, Souderton, PA
Organizers: Descendants of Charles and Elizabeth Holly
Project support: Souderton Borough and Souderton-Telford Historical Society, with appreciation to Ursula Heinzelmann and Douglas Scott
Fabricator: Pannier
Photo © Geoff Simonson
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