HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS This site is an attempt to relate a little of the history of Hopedale, Massachusetts. The town was settled in 1842 as a Utopian socialist commune and evolved into the home of the Draper Corporation, at one time the world's largest manufacturer of automatic cotton looms. Hopedale has an area of only five square miles, a population of about 6,000 and is located in the Blackstone Valley in south-central Massachusetts. Massachusetts maps showing Hopedale's location. While this site originally included only Hopedale history, since 2005 some current stories and pictures have been added. Most of them can be seen by going to the Recent Pictures Menu on the right *************** If you have additional information, corrections or opinions on any of the material here, e-mail me and I'll add your thoughts or corrections to the site. I send out Hopedale history ezines twice each month. If you'd like to be added to the list to receive them, let me know by using the email link above. Search this site *************** NEW. Hopedale in February Hopedale in February 2011. Murders in Mendon - Chief Mantoni, 1950 Harold "Putt" Lowell, 1974. Hopedale history ezine for February 1 - Waiting for William. Names from the past - Hopedale school personnel directory, 1958-59. A Utopian Dream in Hopedale - a recently written article on the Hopedale Community by George Draper. Police Department photos, c 1950s. Parklands forestry project. Library reports - (The long version. Click on the ezine link above for the short version.) A summary of the annual library reports from 1886 through 1943. (I'll add more eventually.) Susan Preston Draper. An original portrait of John Greenleaf Whittier in the Bancroft Library? How did that happen? Click here for the story. Hopedale History Ezine for mid-December - Last Years Before Rockwell. Fitzgerald Drive - Named for three Fitzgeralds. . Hopedale map - c. 1890. Hopedale celebrates the end of World War I, plus a list of those Hopedale residents who served in the military during the war, plus a photo of and article about the World War I Honor Roll. Now and Then - The Draper fire stations. Draper Blackstone Valley League team of 1935, shown at a reunion held in 1976. Pond and Parklands in October - Slide show on YouTube. Who are they? Two Hopedale elementary school classes. Grafton & Upton Railroad - 173 acre parcel from Hazel Street/140 to west of the Mill River available for development Alcohol in Hopedale - a brief history. *************** HOPEDALE BUSINESSES Hopedale Power Equipment 21st Century eCommerce TWM Systems - Customized computers and services Little White Market CandyUnderCover.com - Candy bars, etc. with personalized wrappers Appell Engineering - Computer security consulting |
.Click on this picture to see it with names of Hopedale police in the 1950s. |
