Dredging Hopedale Pond

     In 1949, I was eight; old enough to have become accustomed to the idea that every
    summer afternoon would be spent at Hopedale Pond. That year, however, things were
    different. They were dredging the pond. I don't know when the job was finally finished, but it
    seemed to me that it went on forever. I still went to the park in the morning and probably
    built a hut in the woods with Billy Hall and Kurt Anderson, and built dams in the brooks
    where Tammy Road is now, but I really missed going to the pond. My father spent about
    fifteen years filling in our backyard at 7 Oak Street, because there was quite a drop there.
    We had fill brought in from many different jobs in the area, but he heard it wouldn't be a
    good idea to use anything from the pond. Somehow, he changed his mind during the last
    day or two of the operation, so we ended up with a few truckloads of the bottom of Hopedale
    Pond in our backyard.   Dan Malloy

                                                                Hopedale Pond Cleanup
                                                   Biggest Operation Attempted In Area

    HOPEDALE - Hundreds of "sidewalk superintendents" watched one of the biggest
    excavation and cleaning operations in this area, yesterday at Hopedale Pond.

       A huge crane, with an 80-foot arm and a scoop bucket with a capacity of nearly three
    yards, was the center of attention as it loaded huge trucks in two sweeps. The trucks can
    carry over six yards of earth.

      Operations began near the beach section of the pond, and the depth of slime and silt at
    this point was more than four feet.

      The W.J. Halloran Co. of Providence is doing the work, which is supervised by Supt.
    William McCarthy and William Polleys, manager of the crane department. The crane
    operator is Fred Bourasso of Woonsocket.

      The plan is to work around the pond, towards the Draper Corporation plant.

      A 20-ton bulldozer and two trucks are now being used, but later more equipment will be
    brought in. Earlier this week a smaller crane was at work laying a gravel road to the site of
    the digging, and a small bulldozer became mired in the mud and had to be pulled out.

      This is the first time such a large cleaning job has ever been attempted in this area. The
    pond has been drained except for a small stream which still flows through the center.
    Milford Daily News, April 23, 1949. Thanks to Rick Buroni and Al Tarca for the pictures.

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