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. It may have taken the pond a few weeks to fill with water after the job was
    done.  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.

                                                 The end of swimming at Hopedale Pond   

                                  
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    Thanks to Rick Buroni, Al Tarca and the Bancroft Library for the
    pictures above. The ones below are from Dave Guglielmi.