The shop in the middle of the picture is the Roper factory on Northrop Street. Dutcher and Freedom street houses can also be seen. That must be The Larches near the top of the hill, a little left of center.
The 1898 Hopedale directory lists Lewis B. Gaskill, farmer, at Hartford Avenue by the Mill River. Mr. Wilcox isn’t in the book
These pictures were taken from negatives at the Bancroft Library. A few are in envelopes with a bit of information, but in many cases we’ll probably never know who the people were. In addition to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century negatives, the library has a large number of Draper negatives, mainly from the 1940s and 1950s.
The evidence suggests that the pictures were taken by Edwin Darling. Darling was a selectman from the 1890s into the 1920s. He lived at 54 Freedom Street. If you were in Hopedale a few decades ago, you may remember the house as the home of Clarence Chilson, who operated his radio and tv business there. Darling was the foster father of Chilson’s wife, Hester.
Here are some observations on the pictures sent by Peter Metzke from Melbourne, Australia.
Hello Dan,
Interesting, as all these have (I think) the same dog and the same women. The two youngsters playing baseball is another one of interest as one has grown up and sits with the dog a good four to five years later. Note in that shot with them playing the old cart pulled partly across the road
Then as we look, the same woman looking at one of those yearly fashion books, so well done in these times and costing about 10c., also note those photos on the wall – the house could be the one they are sitting in or another earlier one.
These are very good in quality and tell many stories. Note the boots of that era with the side clasps on them or the crisscross lacing ( first time used – crisscross, but it had to come one day). One item missing is those old lace collars always worn by the women so it’s putting the date a little in front of that era – at a very rough guess somewhere in the 1890s, but need to study that further…
Many thanks for sending Dan, I will take another look tonight.
More photos from the negatives Hopedale Pond Town Park